


Perfect Match

by itzbianqueen



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: AU, Crack, F/M, Falling In Love, Multi, Sex, Slow Burn, dating show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:53:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 173,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzbianqueen/pseuds/itzbianqueen
Summary: If your perfect match was standing right in front of you, would you know?When Sergio Marquina is tricked by his brother, Andres, to be a contestant on the dating show "Are you the One: Spain", he's convinced that he's going to experience the worst 10 weeks of his life. But what happens when he meets his perfect match? Could a TV dating game show lead Sergio 'I'll never fall for anyone" Marquina to love or will it end in heartbreak?*crack fic**rated explicit for future chapters*
Comments: 564
Kudos: 1224





	1. Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I'm back with a new fic - this one very different from Can't Fight this Feeling (which I promise to write an epilogue for). With all that's happening in the world, I wanted to try writing something light and fun as an escape, so here's a ridiculous crack fic. It's based on the MTV reality show "Are You the One" where singles are put into a house and have to find their perfect matches. Everyone in the game has someone who's deemed a "perfect match" and if everyone correctly identifies them by the last show, they win a big cash prize to split.
> 
> This first chapter is quite long because I wanted to go through the full sequence of an episode for people who don't know the show at all. Not every chapter will follow this strict of a format.
> 
> And a few things to note as you read:  
> \- There are 16 characters, but the story is told through Sergio and Raquel's perspectives so not every character will be in every part.  
> -Everyone is open in terms of sexuality. Some are lean more to one gender and others are more open to many. But anyone can match with anyone - f/f, m/m, f/m, etc.  
> -This is a serquel story, but that doesn't mean I won't have fun with them in other pairings in the game as they all struggle to figure out their perfect matches. But I'm such trash for them, I won't be able to write them in sex scenes with other characters.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Sergio complained as he and his brother were walking into a luxury vacation mansion in Majorca. He felt queasy over the fact that this would be his home for the next ten weeks with a group of strangers who he already knew would annoy him. 

Andres laughed, knowing he was about to get yet another lecture on how superficial and idiotic this whole thing was. Robbing a bank would be less stressful than a few months in a house with a bunch of strangers who would be messy, loud and, worst of all, want to bond with him every second of every day - his brother kept reminding him. As someone who enjoyed his solitude with a Bach violin concerto and a good book, Andres knew this was Sergio’s version of hell.

“Have an open mind, brother,” Andres smiled as the two walked through the perfectly furnished home towards the backyard with the most stunning view of the beach. Scattered in the lawn were chairs, outdoor beds, hammocks and a workout area. “You’re in paradise.”

“Ten weeks of me being filmed while having to bond with people I don’t know and trapped in a house is not my idea of paradise.”

“Forget about the cameras,” he smiled as the two looked at the large crew setting up cameras all over the backyard to capture the opening sequence of the contestants’ arrival.

“You didn’t even let me bring a book,” he sighed in frustration.

“No books, phones, computer, paper or pens... you know the rules.”

“The rules lack logic. What kind of game doesn’t allow you to properly strategize and work through a plan to win?”

“A game that’s about finding your perfect match, Sergio. We’ve been through this, you play with…” he pointed to Sergio’s heart “rather than your” and then ran his hand through his brother’s hair causing him to flinch. Andres then smiled and pointed below his brother’s waist, “and maybe a little of that.”

Sergio slapped his hand away mortified, “I already told you my role in this is to get the win. I will not be hooking up with anyone on this pathetic TV show.”

“When do you ever hook up with people?” Andres laughed.

“You have a point there,” Sergio conceded, adjusting his glasses. 

“I’m not saying you have to get married. But, for once, let go. Enjoy life. Be spontaneous, let your heart open to love or at least a bit of sex. You never know what could happen…”

“Anyone who would sign up for this garbage would never be my ‘perfect match’…”

“You’re here,” Andres reminded.

“Because I lost a bet which I now know you cheated on…”

“A bet’s a bet,” he smiled. “Besides, I know the contestants joining you and I think there are a couple who will surprise you.”

Sergio rolled his eyes. His brother was crazy. Hell, he was crazy for even being here.

Andres saw one of the producers waving to him, “That’s my cue. Go take a run or swim because I don’t want your grumpy ass ruining the opening of my show.”

As his brother walked away, Sergio let out a sigh. _What was he doing here?_

* * *

**“** Welcome to the first season of _Are You the One: Spain_ ,” Andres began, addressing a group of 16 people in the backyard of the beautiful beach mansion. “You’re ALL here for the same reason...Because you..” he gestured for everyone to join in the pre-rehearsed line.

“... suck at love!” they all shouted with the exception of Sergio who simply glared at his brother every time the camera wasn’t on him. 

“That’s right. All of you are here because you’ve been unlucky with love, and we want to help you. If your perfect match was standing right in front of you, would you know? Based on talking to you, your family, and exes and experts, we believe we’ve found your perfect match to help you break your pattern of choosing the wrong people. Each of you has someone here who represents everything you need in a partner, so I encourage you to take the time to get to know everyone and avoid falling into your old habits. Because anyone standing next to you can be your match. The catch? We won’t tell you who that person is. You have to open your heart to love to find them. And if, together, you all succeed in correctly identifying your perfect matches, you’ll win 1 million euros.”

Most of the crowd cheered when he mentioned the cash prize except for Sergio who has yet to crack a smile. The feeling of dread over having to play such a ridiculous game inhibiting him from even pretending to express any excitement. 

“You will have 10 opportunities to correctly identify your match, but we will only tell you how many perfect matches you’ve gotten right. You’ll need to work together to figure out who those matches are. We’ll also give you the chance, each week, to send one couple into the ‘Truth Booth’ to see if they are a perfect match. And if they are, they will be allowed to leave this house and go to the honeymoon suite to get to know each other better. The more perfect matches you get right, the easier it’ll be to win” Andres announced and smiled when the contestants cheered again at the idea of finding their match.

Sergio rolled his eyes at this, praying he wouldn’t find his perfect match early and be forced to spend one on one time with some random stranger. Besides, they need him in the house to use the patterns, logic and math to help identify the perfect matches based on the data they receive each week. There’s no way these hormonal idiots would get it right

“Are you all ready to find love and win 1 million euros?!” Andres yelled, encouraging everyone to cheer along. “Fantastic, to welcome you all and give you the opportunity to get to know each other, we’ll be throwing a white party for you!”

Everyone cheered again; however, this time Sergio noticed another contestant who appeared to be as enthusiastic as he was. A beautiful woman with golden brown hair, wearing a pair of jean shorts and a white flowy tank top. Unlike the other women who looked dressed to the nines for the cameras, she chose to be a bit more understated.

She would smile and cheer when the camera was on her, but it would quickly fade when she didn’t think anyone was looking. At the moment, he could feel her nervous energy from a few feet away. At least he wasn’t the only one dreading this, he mused and then turned his attention back to his brother not wanting to be caught observing her. He had to admit he was intrigued by her attitude. 

The cameras were off and all of the contestants followed the producers into the house to listen as they went over the rules for the show and then took them on a tour of the pristine mansion. 

When they reached the bedroom, Sergio’s eyes widened. All of the beds were in the same room?! What kind of bullshit was this? How were they supposed to find love if temptation was constantly thrown their way - and then Sergio understood the nature of the game. The producers want them to fail, fall into bad habits and create a lot of drama for the sake of good TV. He felt queasy again.

“And in this room, we have a confessional where you can talk to the camera,” the producer pointed out. “We’ll be encouraging you all to do this to get better insight on how you’re feeling as you all spend time together, and it’s a safe place to say something you may not be ready to reveal to the other contestants. But be careful because anything you say could end up being included in the show.”

No problem with that, Sergio mused. He planned to keep those sessions brief and simply comment on the game aspect of this.

“Finally, this is what we call the boom boom room,” the producer smirked as they all looked into the bedroom with a queen sized bed and a bucket of condoms next to it.

“Excuse me, the what?!” the woman Sergio had been observing earlier spoke up.

The young producer blushed slightly, “It’s there for when you may want a little privacy from the rest of the house.”

When Sergio heard her mutter under her breath, he couldn’t help but smile. He had an ally who saw through this ridiculous show like he did. 

“I assume it will be cleaned after every… private moment?” she asked again, rolling her eyes in disgust.

“Of course,” the producer assured. “Now, we have some food and drink in the living room. The cameras will be back on and we hope you’ll take the time to introduce yourselves to each other.”

Sergio followed the rest of the contestants downstairs and noticed a few already giving each other lustful stares. This was going to be a very long ten weeks.

When they all made their way to the couches, they each grabbed a glass of champagne and another beautiful woman with dark hair and striking features spoke up, “Hi everyone! My name is Agata, and I’m so excited to be here with all of you. Why don’t we all introduce ourselves around the circle, say what we do and why we suck at love.”

Everyone nodded and agreed.

“I’ll start. As you know, my name is Agata. I’m a systems analyst at the Royal Mint, and why do I suck at love? I always fall for people who aren’t interested. I like the chase, I guess, so one of you motherfuckers better chase me!” she joked and everyone laughed and the girls all cheered.

“I’ll go next,” another beautiful brunette smiled. “My name is Silene and I’m a waitress by day and a bartender by night. And the reason I suck at love is I get bored easily. I have never been in a relationship longer than 6 months, but looking at all of you? I don’t think this will be a boring 10 weeks.”

“Yeah baby!” Agata cheered. “Who’s next?”

A red head rolled her eyes and took a large sip of her champagne, “My name is Alicia. I’m a client services manager at a marketing agency in Madrid. And why I suck at love... Oof, where to begin,” she joked. “I have a hard time finding people I want to spend more than 10 minutes with, so if you’re annoying, don’t talk to me.”

“Ok then,” Silene rolled her eyes playfully. She already knew she and Alicia would eat each other alive… figuratively, of course but also hopefully literally? She was intrigued by her disinterest in people. “How about one of the guys go next?”

“Hello everyone,” a larger bearded man smiled to the group. “My name is Yashin, but everyone calls me Helsinki. I’m a cook for the military, and I fall too hard for people who treat me like garbage.”

Agatha’s eyes softened. “How could anyone treat you like shit? You seem like the sweetest man.”

“Thank you, Agata,” he smiled and went over to give her a hug. “That means a lot coming from a woman as beautiful as you.”

“He’s the sweetest,” she grinned. 

“I’ll go next,” another male voice announced but with some disinterest towards the group and Sergio perked up a bit. He wasn’t surprised to see him here. “But please stop this fake lovey dovey shit. You’re making me sick. My name is Martin, and I’m an entrepreneur. And I don’t suck at love. All of my previous partners did,” he announced smuggly. 

Most of the room rolled their eyes in disgust. They already knew who the season jerk would be.

The rest continued to introduce themselves to the group. There was Monica who was an executive assistant who only dated married men and women; Daniel, a mechanic, who was hot headed and jealous in relationships; Angel, a police officer in Valencia, who falls in love too fast; Mari Carmen, a teacher, who is extremely shy when it came to dating; Sofia, a veterinarian, who lost her identity in relationships; Marseilles, a military pilot, who often preferred animals to people; Anibal, a developer, who has never been in love; Suarez, a security guard at the Bank of Spain, who never believed in emotional attachments; and Julia, a model, who had recently undergone gender affirmation surgery and has yet to date since then - scared to of the reaction people would have to discovering she’s a trans woman.

“I think you’re beautiful,” Suarez smiled at her. 

“We all do,” Agatha confirmed and everyone nodded. “This is a safe place for you, Julia.”

“Thank you everyone,” Julia smiled through tears. “So who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” the golden brown haired woman smiled and Sergio perked up a bit. “My name is Raquel. I’m a detective with the National Police in Madrid. And where do I start when it comes to love?” she laughed. “I’ve always been attracted to assholes and lost a bit of myself in them. But recently, my biggest problem is I don’t have the time to meet someone with work.”

“Oh sister, I’m there with you when it comes to asshole exes,” Agata laughed. She then looked towards the only person who had yet to say a word. 

Sergio grew nervous at all eyes on him, wishing for the ground to open up and take him away from this nightmare. “Right, well…” he adjusted his glasses and stood up. “My name is Sergio. I’m a criminal law professor at the Complutense University of Madrid. And I don’t really have a lot of time to meet people with my job,” he finished awkwardly. He wanted to add that he had no plans to meet anyone here as well, but he didn’t think this was the time to leave a bad impression.

* * *

After the introductions, the producers asked everyone to start getting ready for the white party as the living room was being decorated and filled with food and alcohol - the perfect setting to capture many bad decisions. 

When Sergio had walked into the room in a full white suit and fedora, he only saw Agata and Silene talking by what looked like a large bowl of Sangria. These producers know what they're doing, he thought to himself yet again annoyed that he had to endure all of this. These past few hours were moving slower than a snail walking across a football field. He was going to kill Andres.

“Sergio!” Agata smiled and waved him over, “you look great!” 

He gave her a hug and kisses on both cheeks and then the same to Silene. “So do both of you,” he responded nervously.

“Aww, it’s so cute how nervous you are,” Silene teased. “We don’t bite… that hard anyway.”

“So why are you here?”

“Honestly, I lost a bet,” he smiled. “But the money doesn’t sound so bad either. I’ve been wanting to start my own law firm like the innocence project in Madrid to help those who are innocent but can’t afford good lawyers. This money would help a lot.”

“That’s amazing,” Agatha responded. “You almost sound too good to be true.”

He grabbed a glass of Sangria and blushed slightly. “I’m not sure I’d say that…”

“So what was the bet?” Silene asked. She was intrigued by this man. He was smart, good looking and had actual ambition. She wondered if he could be her perfect match.

Unbeknownst to Silene, Agatha was thinking the same thing. She didn’t often find herself attracted to the nice guys, but there was something about the professor that got her heart beating a mile a minute.

“My brother and I put teams together for a friendly game of football. If I lost, I’d have to come on the show. What I didn’t realize was that he paid my team to throw the game.”

“That’s evil!” Silene grinned. “I like your brother”

“I guess I have him to thank for you being here,” Agatha flirted.

Sergio grew more uncomfortable by this. How had he, in all of his dreading of this show, forgotten the part where there may be people who would be interested in him and want to flirt. He didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t see himself falling for anyone, especially in this crazy horror fun house setting.

“I suppose you do,” He agreed and took another sip of his drink and saw that a group of people had now entered the kitchen. Agata was the first to greet everyone, and he could tell that she was the life of the party.. 

Raquel was the last to enter the room in a tight white dress, her hair in loose curls, and a dark red lip. Sergio was the first to notice and lost his breath for a moment. Gone was the understated fashion choices from earlier which he’d also thought she looked beautiful in. And the nerves had seemed to leave as she entered the room with a confident smile. He wondered what had changed for her.

“Raquel! You sexy minx, get over here,” Agatha yelled across the room and hugged her, “Damn!”

Alicia quickly joined the women when she spotted Raquel like a lion going after its prey, “Looking good, inspectora,” she flirted, clearly already a bit tipsy.

Raquel smiled at the women and thanked them, “You all look amazing too.”

Alicia grabbed her hand and took her away from the group and towards the Sangria, “Let’s get a drink.”

Sergio observed as Raquel followed her to the kitchen, seeing the attraction between the two women right away. He felt a pang of something in his chest when he watched Alicia take her hand in hers and whisper something in her ear. It must be the annoyance over watching adults acting like horny teenagers after a few sips of alcohol. It was embarrassing, really. 

It also disappointed him that Raquel seemed to be acting like they all were. He tore his eyes away from her and watched Silene, Agata, Monica, Mari Carmen and Sofia dancing together in the large open space in the living room. Marseille, Angel and Suarez seemed to be in deep conversation on the couches. Anibal, Daniel and Julia were laughing about something from across the room. And there was no sign of Martin and Helsinki...

Sergio struggled with including himself in group settings like this. He could work a room and network when it came to his career, but in social settings he found himself standing back unsure of how to mingle with others without the presence of people he knew well. Sergio’s eyes went back to Alicia and Raquel who appeared to be in a deep conversation, but when he looked closer at their body language, it didn’t seem like Raquel was as interested as Alicia who was constantly touching her shoulders, arms, and cheeks as they spoke. Raquel didn’t appear to be returning any of her affection. Perhaps this would be the perfect time to grab another glass, he thought and walked up to the two women.

“Hi Sergio,” Raquel greeted while he poured himself another glass relieved over the interruption. “I like your hat,” she complimented.

“Thanks,” he smiled. “You look lovely,” he complimented in return.

“And I’m bored,” Alicia announced with a heavy sigh. “If you don’t want to make out...” 

Raquel shook her head to confirm “then I’ll go find someone else who does for now. But you know where I am,” she flirted and walked away.

“She seems…”

“Aggressive,” Raquel laughed. “I appreciate people knowing what they want, but it’s the first night. I’m not here to hook up with a whole bunch of people.”

Sergio smiled at this, “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” she joked and he felt himself genuinely smiling over how cheesy her joke was.

“You don’t seem like the others here. Why did you choose to come on the show?”

“To find love of course,” she smiled yet Sergio could hear the sarcasm in her tone. “Finding true love locked in a house with 16 people and cameras all over the place. Just how I always imagined it.”

Sergio laughed when she put her hands to her chest and let out an exaggerated sigh, relieved there was someone else who was as skeptical as he was.

“The truth is I need the money,” she admitted seriously. “My mom was just diagnosed with Alzeimers and there’s this experimental treatment she fits the criteria for, but it’s so expensive. My sister saw this show was holding auditions, and we both gave it a shot. I assumed they’d pick her over me, but I guess I was wrong…”

“That’s…”

“A lot of information to reveal during a first conversation,” she laughed. “I’m sorry, Sergio.”

“No no, I’m glad you told me. I promise I’ll do whatever I can to help us all win this money.”

She looked into his eyes and saw how genuine his promise was and was a bit taken aback by his kindness. “Thank you,” she breathed and then looked at the group dancing. “I’m going to go join the girls, and you need to get out there more. Meet your perfect match at all,” she smiled and then left.

Following her advice, he walked over to where Angel, Marseilles, and Suarez were sitting and joined them. 

“Sergio, about time you joined us,” Angel smiled. “We were just talking about who we’re hoping will be our matches.”

“Oh?” he asked in fake interest as he took a seat next to Suarez. Of course, every conversation was going to be about this game and who people wanted to hook up with. Annoying. “Who are you hoping for?” he asked in an attempt to appear interested.

His eyes went straight to Raquel, “She’s amazing,” he admitted. “And we’re both in law enforcement. I’m pretty sure she’s my match.”

“Have you spoken to her yet?” Sergio asked skeptically.

“I don’t need to. When you know, you know.”

Sergio had to fight rolling his eyes, “How about you, Suarez?”

“I’m not sure. I really want to get to know Alicia or Martin.”

“And like my good friend, Angel, I really want to get to know Raquel,” Marseilles admitted.

Raquel was popular, Sergio mused. He was glad for her, but it would get complicated if she’s stuck in a love square with these two men and Alicia. He hoped it didn’t explode in her face since he now knew her primary goal wasn’t finding love.

“How about you, Sergio?” Angel asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure yet,” he responded and refrained from saying ‘no one’, “I need to really get to know someone first.”

“Is there anyone you’re attracted to?” Suarez asked.

“No,” he denied, feeling completely out of place. He wasn’t the type to “gossip” about others.

“More for all of us then,” Angel smiled.

From across the room, Raquel was having fun with Agata and Monica, enjoying the music and letting loose. They had the potential to become good friends and make this experience a bit more bearable. She was thankful for that.

Agata then stopped them and led them both to the kitchen for a drink. “So ladies, who are we feeling?” she asked while refilling her glass and passing the ladle to Raquel.

“Honestly?” Raquel admitted, “There hasn’t really been anyone yet. Alicia is beautiful but a little aggressive for me, and I haven’t really spent much time with anyone else.”

Monica agreed, “I haven’t really gotten to know anyone yet. Suarez is pretty cute though…”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” Agatha admitted. “Can I ask you both a huge favour?”

“Of course…”

“I really think Sergio is my match and I want to get to know him…”

“Sergio?” Raquel questioned as she looked at the man trying to learn a secret handshake with Suarez and getting it completely wrong. She didn’t want to admit she was completely charmed by his lack of coordination.

“There’s just something about him that gets me going,” she confessed while pushing her pelvis into the counter for emphasis. “He’s smart, good-looking, driven… everything I asked for.”

“Go for it,” Monica encouraged while laughing at the dramatics, “He’s all yours. He seems like a good guy.” Raquel nodded in agreement yet not as enthusiastically as she should be, she realized.

“Great. Thank you. I’m so happy to have you ladies,” she hugged them both completely oblivious to Raquel’s reluctance. “Now, I need the rest of the house to know Sergio is off limits,” she sighed.

  
  


* * *

The next morning, after a late night of partying and drunken bonding, the 16 contestants were in the backyard with Andres standing in front of them.

Sergio felt himself growing even more livid at the sight of his brother after having to endure a night of people making poor decisions, having unintelligent conversations, trying to claim ownership of who they want their match to be after only a few hours, and he was pretty sure he overheard a couple in the “boom boom room” while he was trying to get some sleep. Suffice it to say, Sergio was grumpy.

Raquel wasn’t fairing much better as the painkillers were doing nothing to alleviate her massive hangover. And she wanted to know how in the hell did she wake up next to Angel snoring louder than a foghorn.

“How’s everyone doing today?” Andres smirked seeing the many hungover and tired faces in front of him. After a few grumbles, he laughed and looked at the teleprompter to begin his script for this week’s activity. “Today, you’ll all be competing to go on a date - learning how to surf!”

Most of the contestants cheered at the prospect of getting out of the house and having the chance to spend some alone time with someone new. Sergio, of course, remained emotionless and, for the first time, Raquel noticed just how unenthused he was by this whole process. It made her curious as to how he even ended up on this show in the first place.

“Pair up,” Andres instructed and everyone started looking for who they were hoping to go on a date with. Before Raquel could move, Angel was next to her. Oh course, Mr. Snores is interested, she sighed.

“I hope this is okay,” he asked shyly. “I have a feeling you and I would make a great team.”

“Sure,” she smiled and then looked back at Andres to hear the rules of this competition.

“All of you have experienced so many hurdles and baggage in your relationships that we’re putting you and your partner on the ultimate obstacle course to move forward from your past relationships and work together towards a fresh start. You and your partner will jump over hurdles, move large bags and then work together walking on two wooden platforms to the finish line. The first two teams to complete the obstacle course in the fastest time will go on the date.”

Everyone cheered as they stood next to their partners: Agata and Sergio, Angel and Raquel, Anibal and Silene **,** Suarez and Alicia, Mari Carmen and Sofia, Marseille and Julia, Helsinki and Monica, and Daniel and Palermo. 

“And for those who don’t win, you have the important task of voting one of the two winning couples into the Truth Booth to see if they’re a perfect match. So let’s start with Agata and Sergio!”

And what followed was a series of amazing moments for the cameras of teams tripping over the hurdles, the bags being too heavy and struggling to walk together over two planks of wood that were essentially oversized cross country skis.

Andres couldn’t hold back his laugh when his brother completely forgot he had a partner and completed the first two obstacles while Agata had tripped and fell over one of the hurdles. Of course, his younger brother would lack the ability to work as a team.

Many of the others struggled with the exception of Suarez and Alicia and Raquel and Angel who had completed the obstacle course seamlessly. Must be a combination of the police training and Suarez being a complete beast, Andres smiled.

“Well, it comes as no surprise that our winners are Suarez and Alicia with 1 minute and 22 seconds followed by Angel and Raquel at 1 minute and 32 seconds. Great job!” 

Andres then looked at the rest of the group, “Now, the rest of you think long and hard about who you want to send into the Truth Booth to see if one of these two couples are a perfect match. I’ll see you all later tonight.”

* * *

“Don’t you wish you were going on the date with me,” Alicia asked while the two were putting on their make-up in preparation for their dates.

Raquel smiled at this. She really didn’t quit, “Honestly? Yes, I don’t see much of a connection with Angel…”

Alicia grinned, “That’s the right answer. And I don’t know where Angel thought you were even in his league let alone a perfect match. Men are stupid and I swear if I match with one of the men in this game, I’m demanding they double my money for emotional damage.”

“What about Suarez?” Raquel asked while applying her mascare.

“All beef and no flavour,” she simply responded and Raquel burst out laughing. “Come on, we can ditch those two morons and go make out in a bush…”

Raquel rolled her eyes at this, “Didn’t you just kiss Julia in the hottub?”

“How did you hear about that?”

“We all live in the same house. Everyone knows everything,” Raquel smiled.

“Jealous?” she asked hopefully.

“You wish,” Raquel laughed.

“You know it,” Alicia confirmed while applying the finishing touches to her lipstick. “She wasn’t a good kisser anyway. I doubt we’ll do it again. No perfect match,” she sighed dramatically.

“That’s too bad,” Raquel smiled putting the final touches to her eye make-up.

“Well, I’m not going to stop having fun if my perfect match keeps turning me down,” she revealed.

“What makes you think we’re a perfect match?” Raquel asked.

“You’re the only person here who doesn’t make me want to throw up. That has to mean something…”

“So romantic,” Raquel joked. 

“At least tell me you’d pick me tomorrow in the match-up ceremony,” she demanded while smoothing out her hair.

Raquel smiled at this. She really didn’t give up. “But what if Angel and I are a confirmed perfect match?”

“Please,” she scoffed. “I’m more likely to be paired with that loud girl who never shuts up.”

“Agata?”

“That’s her,” Alicia rolled her eyes and Raquel laughed again.

“I’ll tell you what,” Raquel offered. “If we’re a confirmed perfect match in this game, I’ll give you that kiss you are so desperate for,” she teased.

“As if you’ll be able to resist me for longer than a week,” Alicia laughed. “But I’ll take it. At least it’s something to look forward to.”

Raquel shook her head at this, smiling at how flirty she was being. She didn’t believe that Alicia was her match, but she had to admit that she was starting to really enjoy their banter. 

The two of them walked out of the house and towards the van that would take them to the beach. Alicia couldn’t help but roll her eyes over the way Angel was drooling her Raquel. It was disgusting.

“You look beautiful,” Angel complimented as he sat next to her in the van.

“Thanks,” Raquel smiled nervously, secretly wishing she hadn’t won this date. Why did this have to be the first one in eight years?

“Are you excited to learn how to surf?” Angel asked in an attempt to make small talk.

“Yeah, I’ve never done it before. How about you?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “I may still have it in me to get through a race, but I fear I’ll embarrass myself out there.”

“Don’t worry, I promise not to laugh,” Raquel assured while putting her hand on top of his in what she hoped he understood was a friendly gesture.

“Maybe as an incentive, if I stand for more than 5 seconds, I get a kiss?”

_Or maybe not._

Before she could respond, Alicia spoke up from behind them, “Get in line Mr. Potato.”

“Excuse me?” He turned around.

“She’s already promised a kiss to me when we’re a confirmed perfect match.”

Raquel was currently looking out the window, assessing the damage if she were to open the door and jump out. It was the first date, and she already had people fighting for her? This was going to be a long three hours.

“Ok ok,” Raquel stopped them. “No one is getting a kiss tonight. Angel, let’s just enjoy our date and Alicia, we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Fine,” she sighed while crossing her arms and pouting from behind Raquel.

Suaraz, completely oblivious to the tension, asked “Can I get the promise of a kiss too?”

Raquel groaned. A VERY long three hours.

* * *

Back in the house, the rest of the group were discussing who to vote into the Truth Booth while sitting on the couches in the living room.

“So who are we voting in?” Agata asked everyone while taking a bite of pineapple.

“I think it’s a simple decision,” Marseilles offered, “Raquel and Angel.”

“Do you think they are a perfect match?” Agata questioned skeptically.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “Angel seemed to think so, they both work in law enforcement and look at how well they did in the challenge.”

“Wait a minute,” Silene interrupted. “There is no way he’s her match. She could barely even look at him. There’s no interest there.”

“I agree,” Monica nodded. “I think we should vote for Suarez and Alicia. They’re both so full of themselves, they’re probably a match.”

“There’s no logic to that,” Marseilles countered. “Listen, Angel thinks Raquel is his perfect match. He said so last night. So, if we vote them in and he’s not, at least he’ll know to move on…”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Palermo agreed with a bit of disinterest. “Get the love sick puppy away from the sirloin steak”

“Did you just call Raquel a steak?” Agata asked in horror.

“Isn’t she? I could dangle her in front of a few of you and you’d be panting over her… until you discover she’s a bit overcooked,” he laughed.

“You’re disgusting,” Monica shook her head and began to leave the room and everyone slowly followed, leaving Martin alone with Sergio who appeared frozen in his spot.

“At least you agree with me, friend,” he smiled smugly and took a sip of his beer.

Sergio rolled his eyes, “Of course not, but now that everyone is gone, I wanted to ask why you’re here, Martin.”

“To find my perfect match,” he responded smugly.

“That’s a load of shit.”

“I-”

“All I ask is you don’t turn this house upside down and help us all win the money. Can you handle that?”

“I’ll think about it,” he grinned and left the room.

Alone at last, Sergio sighed in relief. But he couldn’t suppress the nagging suspicion that Martin was in here to start trouble (in the name of good TV).

* * *

Later that evening, the couples had returned from their dates and were seated on four tall stools behind the couch as Andres entered the room to address the whole group

“How were the dates?” Andres asked. “Any connections?”

Raquel tried to look anywhere but towards Andres to avoid answering the question. Unfortunately, Angel spoke up first with his own version of the date.

“It was great. I think today confirmed Raquel could really be my perfect match. We have similar jobs and a lot in common.”

“Raquel, you don’t seem to be sharing the same feelings as Angel,” Andres observed.

Raquel looked at Angel who appeared hurt and knew she needed to smooth the situation, “He’s right, we do have a lot in common and I see a great friend in Angel, but I’m not feeling more than that. I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay,” he accepted sadly.

“How about you, Suarez and Alicia?”

“Nothing,” Alicia simply responded. “I was bored.”

“Then why did you kiss me?!” Suarez asked in shock over her response, assuming they were making a good connection.

“To shut you up. I couldn’t keep hearing about all the times you thought you stopped a robbery.. Blah blah blah… so I kissed you. And it wasn’t that much more fun than your stories.”

Raquel was having a hard time holding back a laugh at Alicia’s sass. At least you always know where you stood with her.

Even Andres was taken aback by it and decided to simply move on to the script. “It’s now time to see who you all voted into the Truth Booth. If confirmed a perfect match, they will leave the house tonight and get to spend some time together in the honeymoon suite. If they aren’t a match, they’ll come back into the house and continue playing the game with all of you.” 

Raquel was nervous. She didn’t believe Angel would be who the matchmakers would choose for her, but there was a small chance he was. She didn’t know what it was based on, and the idea of spending so much time alone with him…

“Raquel and Angel!” Andres announced, interrupting her thoughts.

_Shit._

Raquel followed Angel out of the main house and towards the booth which looked like a large wooden hut. As they walked over, they were asked to make a couple of statements to the camera about how they were feeling and if they felt it could be a perfect match. For Angel’s sake, she talked about how she would be happy if he was her match and could feel the beginning of a good friendship forming. 

When they walked in, they saw a television with their photos on it and were told to stand in the middle of the room so the camera could easily pan around them to capture their reactions. Angel put his hand on her lower back to provide some comfort as they both nervously waited for the results.

Inside the house, the rest of the contestants and Andres watched nervously. Some hoping they identified their first perfect match and a few others hoping this wasn’t Raquel’s time to leave.

After what felt like hours of agony (but was only 30 seconds), a message appeared on the TV that said “No Match”. 

Angel looked disappointed while Raquel did her best to hold in her relief. She knew that if they had been a match, it didn’t mean they had to be a couple, but she worried he really wanted it, and this was the perfect excuse to tell him to look elsewhere.

“Well, at least we know,” Raquel offered as they walked out of the small hut and back towards the main house. “And your perfect match is still in there. You’ll find them.”

Angel could only offer a small smile as they walked back towards the contestants. They went back to their seats where Andres was ready to address the group one last time before leaving for the night.

“Very sorry Angel and Raquel, but your perfect matches are somewhere in this room, and I have faith you’ll both find them,” he smiled and then informed the group that tomorrow was their first match-up ceremony. Their first opportunity of ten to try and get eight perfect matches to win the money, so they needed to use tonight to get to know each other. They also assigned who would be the eight contestants choosing and Raquel could feel the dread in the pit of her stomach over having to choose someone so early in this. She had no idea who the show would match with her.

When Andres left, Agata ran up to Raquel and hugged her, “I’m so glad you’re still here!”

“Me too,” she smiled and returned the hug. “It looks like you’re choosing someone tomorrow too?”

“Yep, I want to choose Sergio, but I haven’t talked to him about it yet and don’t want to freak him out,” Agatha admitted worriedly while looking in his direction. He was currently alone on the couch looking as though he was deep in thought.

“Now is your chance,” Raquel smiled deviously, taking her new friend’s hand and walking her over to Sergio. 

“Hi Sergio,” Raquel smiled.

“Hello,” he greeted, looking up at the two women standing in front of him.

“Ask him,” Raquel whispered to Agata who appeared to be frozen in place. “Agata would like to know if it’s okay if she chose you tomorrow night.” she asked for her friend.

Sergio was taken aback not expecting to hear those words. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea, but at this point, he had no reason to say no. They had no data to work from other than knowing Raquel and Angel weren’t matches. “Of course.”

“Why don’t I leave you two to talk and get to know each other?” Raquel suggested and then left Sergio alone with Agata.

“Why do you think I could be your perfect match?” Sergio asked curiously.

Agata sat next to him and let out a breath to calm her nerves. She was usually so confident, but she really wanted Sergio to like her and knew that her usual loud personality wasn’t going to attract someone like him. “I think we could really balance each other out, you know? You are quiet, smart and driven. And I’m.. well, you know,” they both laughed. 

“You make a compelling argument,” he agreed, laughing with her. He did think about that earlier - how his brother would want the show to match him with someone who would push him out of his comfort zone of solitude. He wasn’t sure if Agata was the right person to do that in his everyday life, but it was a game and he wasn’t about to play it with his feelings. Objectively, she could be his match. 

“So tell me, Sergio, are you starting to enjoy this game yet?” she asked and the two started making conversation and getting to know each other - learning more about each other’s jobs, their families and views on the current political situation in Spain. Sergio hated to admit it, but he did enjoy talking with Agata. What he missed, however, was her body language - sitting closer to him, leaning forward, playing with her hair, smiling when he spoke. She was interested in him, and he was completely oblivious.

On the other side of the room, Raquel stood with Monica observing the two talking. Monica smiled, “I think we have our first match,” she grinned. “They are so cute.”

Raquel observed their body language closely and with her background in psychology and her experience interrogating suspects and even a few hostage negotiations, she could tell that Sergio was completely oblivious to all of Agata’s non-verbal hints. Why was she feeling relief? “I’m happy for them ,” Raquel smiled and then looked away from the two, “I guess I’m going to get read for bed. I’m exhausted.”

She hugged Monica and wished everyone around them a goodnight with a plea to not party too hard and make any bad decisions.

After showering and completing her night routine, she walked into the bedroom in shorts and a Pink Floyd T-shirt to see Sergio already in a bed in the farthest corner in an attempt to stay away from everyone. She did her best to keep quiet as she got onto her single mattress on the other side of the room. 

One thing she hated about this was that they weren’t allowed to bring books or anything to distract their minds, so it was a struggle to fall asleep. She sensed that Sergio was having the same problem as she heard him move around in his bed in an attempt to get comfortable.

“Trouble sleeping?” Raquel asked.

“Yeah,” Sergio sighed. “I usually read before I fall asleep or listen to music.”

“Me too,” she responded. “What was the last book you read?”

“I reread Art of War,” he admitted.

“Sun Tzu,” she was impressed. How was there someone in here who has read something so academic? ““To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” she quoted.

Sergio suddenly sat up completely impressed that she not only knew of this book but could also quote it. “You’ve read it too?” 

“A long time ago. It was for one of my classes in university, but some of the messages stayed with me during my career. It’s a fascinating read.”

“What was the last book you’ve read?”

“Green eggs and ham,” she laughed, especially when she saw Sergio’s confused expression. “I have a 5 year old who wants to practice her English, so we had been reading Dr. Seuss every night for the past few months. Not quite as interesting as Art of War.”

“You have a daughter?” 

“Yes, Paula,” she smiled. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to be away from her for more than two months,” she frowned.

“I can’t even imagine…”

Raquel smiled in an attempt to hide the tears that were threatening to fall, “I’m allowed to Facetime with her once a week at least, and she’s at camp for the summer anyway, so it’s actually the perfect time to get away and distract myself.”

“That’s good,” Sergio responded. 

“My god, we’ve talked twice, and I’ve already told you about my mom and daughter,” she laughed at herself. “How about you tell me something about you so I don’t feel like I’m over-sharing?” 

“What do you want to know?”

“Why are you here? I noticed you always look like you’re in distress over just being in this house.”

“I lost a bet with my brother,” he admitted and told her the same story he’d told Silene and Agata earlier in the week.

Raquel laughed, “That's awful.”

“My brother wants me to enjoy life more and fall in love.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“I don’t know…”

“If you don’t know, you haven’t,” she informed him.

“I’ve had relationships, but I was always so focused on my studies and then my research. And now, I’m hoping to open a law firm that represents those who can’t afford to be properly represented.”

“That sounds amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I wish I knew someone like you when I was working on cases where my gut told me the person was innocent, but everyone else assumed guilt because they looked at it all through a really narrow lens.”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing it. Too many people can’t look beyond their own bias. And for some, that means a lifetime in prison when they don’t deserve that.”

Raquel and Sergio continued to talk about the criminal justice system and their perspectives on it - his coming from an academic background and hers from practical experience. Yet both were shocked over how aligned they were on many of their views. And for Sergio, he was relieved he’s been able to have a conversation with someone that didn’t include awkward small talk or who they wanted to sleep with in the house. 

After almost an hour of talking, Raquel began yawning. “I’m so sorry, Sergio. This is such an interesting conversation, but I’m so tired.”

“Get some sleep,” he smiled. “And it was really nice talking to you, Raquel.”

“Goodnight, Sergio,” she smiled and turned over on her side to hide how affected she was by their conversation. _Butterflies._

* * *

The next evening, the contestants were brought to a new set where they would select who they thought was their perfect match. This was their first of ten chances to get this right and win the money.

After only a few days in this house, Sergio knew this game was going to be a lot harder than he anticipated. Since anyone in the house could be his perfect match, the odds were stacked against them to lose. And how was he supposed to know who these so called “experts” would choose for him? For all he knew, he’d be matched with Martin just to amuse his brother. He shuddered at the thought.

The contestants all walked together on a platform towards Andres who was standing behind a pole with two iPads attached. 

“Welcome to the match-up ceremony. I trust you all had a good first few days in the house.” When everyone nodded, he continued, “Tonight we’ll put what you’ve learned to the test. Eight of you will select who you think your perfect match is, and you’ll both put your hands on these two screens to lock in your choice. Behind me, there are eight beams of light. Each beam will represent a perfect match. The catch? You won’t know who the perfect matches are. That’s for you to figure out. And if you black out and get no matches correct, you will lose 250 thousand euros. Are you all ready?”

When everyone nodded again, Andres asked Raquel to step forward and make her choice. She walked up to him nervously as she tried to pretend there weren’t three camera operators following her every move.

“Raquel, you look beautiful tonight. Have you been making connections?”

“I guess you could say that,” she laughed nervously. “Definitely some good friendships so far.”

“Who is your perfect match tonight?”

“Andres, tonight my perfect match is… Alicia.” She smiled when she heard the cheer behind her as Alicia rushed to her side.

“Do you think this could be a perfect match?”

“Yes.” 

“Maybe.”

They both looked at each other and Raquel laughed, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see” she said and the two of them took a seat on the opposite side of the stage.

Next, Andres called up Agata, asking her the same question about making connections. “Yes, I think I’ve already found my match,” she smiled.

Sergio grew more and more nervous over how confident she was. He didn’t want to hurt her or anyone in this game, but the way she was talking was making it sound like she was developing feelings for him. Feelings he regrettably didn’t think he could ever share. This was a disaster.

“Is that so?” Andres asked. “So tell us, Agata, who is your perfect match?”

“Tonight, my perfect match is Sergio.”

Andres looked a bit shocked for a split second but quickly went back to smiling. Had his brother made a connection with a beautiful woman after only a few days?

Sergio walked up next to her and gave her a hug.

“Sergio, do you think this could be a perfect match?” Andres asked and Sergio could see the amusement in his brother’s eyes.

“I’m not sure yet, but Agata is a great woman and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her.”

Agata grinned in response and put her arm around him. Sergio had to fight everything in him to not stiffen or show any visible discomfort at her touch.

“That’s really wonderful,” Andres smiled, looking directly at Sergio with a clear ‘ _I told you so’_ expression. With the cameras all around them, he fought the urge to roll his eyes at his brother and locked in with Agata.

Once the two sat down, the rest of the pairs locked in, including: Anibal and Silene, Suarez and Angel, Mari Carmen and Sofia, Marseilles and Julia, Helsinki and Monica, and finally the last two paired not by choice (and visibly unhappy about it), Daniel and Palermo.

“Let’s see how you all did,” Andres commented as he turned around and the lights in the studio went dark. They all waited a few (dramatic) seconds until they saw the first blue beam of light shine, representing one perfect match. Everyone cheered in response to not losing any money.

The enthusiasm was over quickly as the lights came back on. They only got one match correct

“That’s a start,” Andres smiled. “Keep playing this game with your heart and I’ll see you all back here next week.”

Everyone was disappointed as there were a few people already convinced they found their match, but unfortunately, math wasn’t on their side. There was only a 1/8 chance that the person next to them was a match.

As everyone stood up after the cameras turned off, Andres walked up to Sergio. “How were the first few days?”

Sergio gave him such an angry look that Andres couldn’t help but laugh, “That bad?”

“Yes, that bad,” he confirmed.

“You’re telling me that out of everyone here, there’s not one person who has caught your attention?”

Sergio’s eyes betrayed him as he looked to his left briefly and then back to his brother, “No.”

“Your mouth says no but your eyes are telling me a different story,” he smirked. He then followed Sergio’s gaze to the left and saw Agata. “Good choice,” he grinned. “And she already likes you…”

What Andres missed, however, was the person standing behind Agata who was hidden when he looked over.

 _Raquel._


	2. Speed Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all for your support of this wacky fanfic! I'm honestly so blown away! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment and kudos on the first chapter. I'll try my best to respond to your comments, but I'm sometimes such a flake, so if I forget, please know how much I appreciate it and how much they inspire me to keep writing.
> 
> This chapter is basically the first part of episode 2.

After the first match-up ceremony, everyone walked into the house feeling deflated over only getting one match correct. Many had assumed that their early connections had been correct and were now questioning if what they were feeling was aligned with the game.

Sergio, completely frustrated over how people assumed their lustful urges were how you play this game, couldn’t hold back addressing the group.

“This isn’t how we’re going to win,” he spoke up, shocking the house that the man who tried his best to stay out of all of the action was commanding their attention.

“And how are we supposed to play, wise guy?” Silene asked, amused by his frustration.

“With logic, strategy and ignoring your primal urges. This isn’t a game of ‘who am I the most attracted to’, it’s about who would be your compatible match based on an algorithm developed by unqualified TV producers. We need to stop forming emotional relationships with people and start playing this game with reason.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Raquel interrupted.

“Excuse me?” Sergio gasped in shock. Was someone questioning him?

“You’re telling a group of people to not play with their hearts on a show about finding your perfect match. Sure, not every match in here is going to necessarily mean it’s a romantic connection, but if we don’t open our hearts and become vulnerable with people, how would we know they are our match? This isn’t a game of chess.”

“It’s a game of data. We all know what we told the matchmakers we want and we have an idea of what our families and friends want for us. If we simply talk to each other reasonably about those things, we’ll find our matches. When feelings get involved, it gets messy. People should avoid attachments during the game,” Sergio elaborated.

“Making connections is more than a checklist, Sergio,” Raquel asserted while the whole house watched these two arguing back and forth with great interest. “If we only play this game with strategy, we’re going to lose. There are hundreds of perfect match combinations and we only have 9 more chances to figure it out. You’re assuming everyone will be self aware, open to trusting everyone with their own personal feelings and be able to put this together like some perfect puzzle. Love is messy, it takes opening your heart to people and building trust. You don’t do that without emotion.”

“But this isn’t about finding love. This is about finding some predetermined ‘perfect match’. There’s no need for it to be messy.”

“Coming from the guy who’s never been in love,” Raquel fired back. “We should be playing this game with our hearts but be open to multiple connections. Strategy is there to help us with the puzzle, but we can’t even start the puzzle if people don’t start really opening up to each other whether that means as friends or more. Will some of us get hurt? Unfortunately, that is inevitable, but we won’t ever discover WHO is a perfect match if we treat this like some emotionless game.”

“Ok,” Agata interrupted, growing more uncomfortable with the escalating conflict between Sergio and Raquel, “We aren’t going to solve this tonight..”

“No,” Silene stopped her and whispered, “let them keep going.”

“I’ve got some popcorn,” Martin smirked while taking a handful from a bowl and passing it to Agata who looked disgusted.

Sergio felt the sting when she threw what he revealed to her last night back in his face, “You’re being irrational, Raquel…”

“I’m being irrational?!” She shouted. “Disagreeing with your approach is not me being irrational. It’s me saying that you can’t come in here with your lack of emotional intelligence and tell a group of people how to play a game of heart. Do you even know what you want or need in a partner?”

Sergio was speechless for a moment. She had him there. “I-”

“You don’t. No one here really knows. And do you know how you find out, by TALKING to people, being vulnerable with people and seeing if there’s potential for love between you both. If I said that I want someone who is loyal and isn't threatened by success, show of hands, how many would say the same thing?” When most of the group put up their hand, Raquel smiled and looked at Sergio victoriously. “Exactly. This isn’t a surface level game. We need to dig deeper and if you all listen to him, we won’t win.”

“And do you think forming messy relationships is how we win this? Come on Raquel, that’s also not going to work when people start falling in love with someone who is completely wrong for them...”

“They do realize if they put their approaches together, it would be the winning strategy, right?” Monica whispered to Agata who laughed. 

“Play this game how you want,” Raquel sighed frustrated by how obtuse he was being, “I’m done,” she said and then left the room and went to the backyard.

Martin couldn’t hold back the laugh, “Already a lover’s spat?”

“Shut up, Martin,” Sergio barked and then let out a sigh of frustration. Where was this coming from? She hadn’t been open to emotional connections yesterday. Why was she all of sudden wanting to play this game in such a messy way?

Monica walked over to Sergio, “You know, you’re both right. We need some reason and logic to understand how pairings are selected, but we also need to play this game by opening our hearts. 

“I’m going to go talk to her,” Helsinki interrupted and left the room in search of Raquel. 

When he found her on one of the day beds by the pool, she was laying down curled in a ball which broke Helsinki’s heart to see the emotional toll this game was having on her. He sat down on the bed next to her, and she rolled over to face him, relieved to see it was Helsinki. They hadn’t spoken much, but she could tell he was a really nice guy.

“I just made a complete fool out of myself, didn’t I?” she asked with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t know what got into me...”

“It’s a stressful game,” he whispered softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“I have so much riding on this money, and I let my emotions get the best of me,” she confessed. “Maybe Sergio was right…”

“You were both right,” Helsinki countered. “We need to play this game with both strategy and heart.”

“Yeah…” she breathed out.

You look like you can use a hug…”

“I could,” she smiled while sitting up and facing him. He put his arms around her and brought her body close to his, giving it a light squeeze. “Thank you…”

“Anytime,” he smiled. “I hate seeing someone as beautiful as you so upset.”

“You’re the sweetest,” she smiled while enjoying the warmth of his embrace. While hugging him, her eyes moved to the house where she saw Sergio sitting on the couch alone, visibly stressed. “I should talk to Sergio. He’s probably not used to a crazy woman yelling at him.”

“Be easy on him,” Helsinki warned. “Like all of us, he has no idea what he’s doing and is trying to rationalize this in the way he knows how.”

“You’re right,” she nodded and then kissed his cheek. “Thanks for coming out here. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” he grinned, happy to have provided her with some comfort and then stood up. He took her hand, helping her up as well, pulling her into one last hug.

Raquel smiled at him gratefully and then walked into the house towards Sergio who was seated on the couch. His eyes weren’t moving from the floor. With every step, she felt more and more guilty over how she used his lack of emotional intelligence against him in front of everyone.

When he saw her approach, she could see his body tense and his hands forming small fists. He clearly wasn’t used to confrontation like this and likely rarely experienced people challenging his intelligence, Raquel thought. She would have to be delicate in how she approached this conversation.

“I’m sorry,” she began as she sat next to him on the couch. “I need this money so much that I lost it a bit....”

“It’s okay,” he responded awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with her. 

“It’s not. I shouldn’t have said you have no emotional intelligence. I barely even know you…”

“You weren’t wrong,” he admitted with a small laugh while his eyes stayed floor as if it was the most interesting view.

“At least we can safely say we’re probably not a match,” she laughed in return.

Sergio looked at her for the first time a bit taken aback. The truth was he took it to mean the opposite, and it terrified him. He’d always been told he needed someone who could challenge him and not be afraid to call him out when he went into “professor mode”. And he also loathed to admit she may be right, it will take breaking down some emotional walls to discover their perfect matches in this fucked up game.

His only response was an awkward laugh, however. He wasn’t ready to explore what it would mean if she was his perfect match and definitely wasn’t ready to have that talk with her to explore whether he could be hers. He _really_ hated this game.

“I have an idea,” she continued, completely oblivious to the emotional turmoil he was feeling from within.

“Oh?” he perked up a bit.

“I think you were on to something when you said we all need to think about what we’d said we needed and wanted when we were auditioning for the show, and we should take the time to talk to everyone...”

Sergio wasn’t sure if he liked where this idea was going.

“Speed dating,” she continued, ignoring the look of complete dread on his face. “Tomorrow night, we can set up the house so that everyone goes on a short 15 minute date with everyone. We can talk about what we’re looking for in a partner and, at least, start narrowing who we think our matches can be based on compatibility. What do you think?

Sergio knew it was a good idea, but he hated it. Even just the idea of having to spend hours talking to everyone over and over again about relationships and what he wanted from a partner sounded like a complete nightmare, especially since he didn’t want to find romance on this show.

“For the game, I think it’s a good idea…” he responded diplomatically while his tone didn’t hide the stress he felt over it.

“Great! I’ll take that as a yes,” she grinned. She had noticed how nervous he appeared at the prospect of having to talk to so many people and took pity on him. “I know this isn’t something you want to do. Hell, I can’t even stand the thought of talking to some of these people, but we’ll learn a lot from it,” she comforted and put her hand over his which was currently placed on his knee.

He slightly twitched at the physical contact but didn’t move his hand away. He didn’t understand it, but her touch was providing him with a bit of comfort.

“You were right too,” he finally relented. “We don’t win this game if we only use logic and strategy.” It was the first time since he could remember where he admitted to someone that he, Sergio Marquina, had been wrong. What was she doing to him?

“Did I hear that correctly?” she smirked. 

“Unfortunately,” he sighed, making her laugh.

“I think we’d make a good team,” she proposed. “Your logic and ability to understand the data and my ability to understand people. We should try working together.”

Together? Work on strategy with another person? This was pushing Sergio out of his comfort zone completely. 

“You’re not used to working with people, are you?” She asked when his hand tense under hers.

“Not really,” he admitted. “But I’m willing to try,” he smiled and she squeezed his hand in return. Sergio looked down at her hand over hers confused over how comforting her touch was. 

“We’ll win this,” she smiled but before he could respond, they were interrupted by a voice from across the room.

“Are you done yet?” Alicia whined. “I’m bored and I haven’t even asked Raquel to make out with me yet tonight.”

Raquel laughed while taking her hand off Sergio’s. “I guess that’s my cue.” 

She stood up and walked up on the couch to get some height to address everyone, “Tomorrow night, let’s try speed dating. It’s the perfect opportunity to get to know everyone in the house and we can use some of Sergio’s suggestions to discuss what we’re looking for in a partner with each other to start getting a sense of who our matches can be. Who’s in?”

“I love that idea!” Agata smiled. 

“Yes! It’s a brilliant idea,” Monica agreed.

“You’re telling me I’d have to talk to all of these motherfuckers?” Alicia complained and Raquel laughed over her attitude. Looked like Alicia and Sergio had something in common. Perhaps they were a match, she mused.

“I like it,” Silene smirked. “There’s a few of you I really want to get to know better,” she flirted, looking directly at Raquel and Sergio.

Sergio rolled his eyes. He really was living in hell.

* * *

The next evening, the living room and backyard had been set up for speed dating. They had agreed that every couple would have 15 minutes to get to know each other and to use that time wisely before their competition the next day that would allow them to send two couples in the Truth Booth.

Raquel had a stopwatch handy and told everyone she would blow a whistle when it was time to switch.

Sergio’s first date was with Alicia. They both sat in silence, sizing each other up. After a few minutes, Alicia decided to get it over with, “We aren’t a match.”

Sergio nodded, “I agree.”

Overhearing this from across the table, Monica interrupted. “You both haven’t even said a word to each other; how do you know?”

“Stick to your own date, blondie,” Alica barked back. And the two went back to sitting in silence until Raquel blew her whistle.

**//**

This time, it was Agata who sat in front of Sergio. “You already know that I think we’re a match,” she began, “but do you feel the same?”

Straight to the point, he thought. “Honestly? I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I think there are definitely reasons you could be, so I wouldn’t rule it out, but I don’t know you well enough yet...”

“But this tension between us… you feel it too, right?”

Sergio almost choked at the question. How did he get out of this without looking like a complete ass? He adjusted his glasses and he thought of a way to respond, “Um.. well, you are very attractive. And of course, I’ve noticed that, but umm…”

“Well?” she finished sadly.

“I’m not in a place where I want to get involved with anyone, I’m sorry,” he apologized and felt overwhelming guilt for hurting her. He wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear, but lying would do more damage than the truth. 

“Could it change?” she asked hopefully

“Maybe...” he thought as his mind went back to past relationships and how long it had always taken him to feel romantic attraction to someone.

“Then I’ll just have to show you who Agata is,” she smiled and he returned it, touched by how genuine her feelings were for him. If he could return them, he would in an instant. She deserved to be cherished by someone.

**//**

On the other side of the room, Silene had joined Raquel. The younger woman sat in the chair across from her with a smirk on her face.

“I think we’d have amazing sex together,” she began and Raquel started to choke. That was one way to start a “date”.

“Do you now?” she responded skeptically. “Because I heard you were spending your time with Anibal in the boom boom room last night…”

“Oh, but inspectora, I was thinking of you the whole time,” she teased while leaning closer to make her interest known. 

Raquel could see through her façade. She liked to make people uncomfortable with her sexuality and as beautiful as she was, Raquel wasn’t about to give into this nonsense.

“I’m sure,” she laughed, sitting back in her chair.

“Have you ever been with a woman?”

Raquel looked at her incredulously, “Would I be here if I haven’t?”

“What are your feelings on strap-ons?”

For fucks sakes, Raquel groaned internally but wasn’t about to give into this weird power struggle that Silene wanted to establish. “I prefer a good tongue...”

This threw Silene off balance for a moment as she didn’t expect the inspectora to be able to banter with her like this. “Hmmm...what do you say we quit this speed dating bullshit and I show you…”

All of a sudden, Raquel’s timer went off. “Time’s up,” she announced. Saved by the bell, she sighed in relief.

“You know where I’m sleeping,” the younger woman flirted and then left to find her next date, leaving Raquel amused and admittedly a bit horny. It’d been a while since she’d had really good sex, and she knew it would be _really_ good with Silene.

**//**

Sergio sat in front of Martin in a chair by the pool. He was looking a little too relaxed seated cross legged in the lounge chair, taking a sip from a large glass of bourbon. Sergio wished he had his cavalier attitude. 

“My perfect match,” he greeted, amused by Sergio’s discomfort.

Sergio rolled his eyes. “We both know that’s not true.”

“Fair enough,” he smirked. “So who do you have your eye on?”

“No one,” Sergio responded quickly. 

“Hmm..a little too quick. I think there is someone. Agata?”

Sergio shook his head, “She really wants it to be,” he admitted sadly.

Martin sat up in his seat and, for the first time, looked genuinely concerned for another person in the house. Before responding, he looked around to ensure there were no cameras on him. “Look, Sergio,” he whispered, “we’ve known each other for a long time, and I’ve never seen you take any real interest in anyone. Do you think that maybe you’re writing her off too soon?”

“It’s possible,” he agreed while slightly taken aback by the fact he was receiving advice from Martin. He supposed there was a first for everything.

“You’re so closed off that I think the perfect person could be right in front of you, and you’d never even notice.”

Sergio looked behind him to see Raquel and Agata laughing together through the window and his usually stoic features softened a bit. “Maybe you’re right. She’s an amazing woman…”

“Unless there’s another woman on your mind?” Martin smirked when he noticed that Sergio’s eyes weren’t aligned with who they were talking about.

“And who would that be?” He turned around confused by the question.

“You tell me,” he chuckled while taking a sip of his bourbon. “Anyway, that’s enough of me being nice to you. It makes me feel dirty.”

Sergio rolled his eyes and the two sat in silence until their time was up.

**//**

“Sergio,” Raquel greeted warmly as he took a seat, “How has it been going?”

“Terrible,” he admitted and she laughed. “And exhausting… I’ve never spent so much time talking about my feelings before. And Silene was...”

“Did she start it with ‘I bet we’d have great sex’ too?” Raquel winced.

“No, I got ‘I’ve never been so horny for intelligent men before'” and they both laughed. 

“How about we change it up a bit?” Raquel suggested for their mini date, “No feelings talk. I’ll give you a break”

“I’m listening.”

“Hmmm…” she thought and Sergio stared amused by the crinkles in her face as she exaggerated how hard she was thinking, “Oh, I’ve got a really good story for you!” she exclaimed.

Sergio laughed, her positive energy rubbing off on him. More and more, he found himself enjoying her presence.

“I got to Facetime with my daughter today, and she asked me where babies came from because one of the camp counselors is pregnant and told her to ask her mom,” she groaned. 

“Oh no…” he grimaced but was surprisingly excited to hear a story about her daughter.

“Yep, and it gets worse…. So I’m struggling with what to say because I thought I still had a couple of years, you know? I started telling her the story of two sunflowers who see each other in the field and they meet eyes and fall in love… and the pollen from one makes its way to the other and then a baby flower is born.”

Sergio laughed, “That’s actually not the worst analogy I’ve heard.”

“Yes, so here I am thinking I did a great job. Mom of the year, ready to pat myself on the back and then who appears behind me? Alicia.”

“Oh no,” Sergio’s winced.

“And she doesn’t realize who I’m talking to and says ‘babies come from fucking without a condom…” she grimaces.

“She didn’t…” Sergio gasped.

“So for the next 20 minutes, I had to try and erase the words ‘fucking’ and ‘condoms’ from my daughter’s mind.”

“What did you do?”

“What any terrible mother would do. I pretended like nothing happened and promised her a trip to her favourite candy store if she agreed to never talk about this again.” 

The two of them started laughing together over how ridiculous the situation was, but Raquel quickly stopped when she caught Agata glaring at her from across the room. _Oh shit._

“And look at that, our time is up and no feelings talk. I hope you had a nice break,” she offered.

Sergio smiled at her, his first genuine smile in the house, “It was. Thank you.”

The night continued on as everyone took the time to get to know each other and could start to get a better sense of who they may or may not be compatible with. It was still too early to tell, but there were a couple of connections forming - a sweet connection between Monica and Daniel and a very weird but interesting one between Martin and Helsinki.

Sergio had to admit that this was a great idea as much as he loathed the majority of the dates. Maybe, it wasn’t the worst to have Raquel as a partner to win this game. Somehow, she was starting to make it more bearable. Not that he’d ever admit that out loud.

* * *

The next morning, Andres stood in front of the contestants in the backyard. Behind him was an over-sized 3D glass maze and a large sign that read, “The Maze of Love”. Sergio stared at it with complete dread. These competitions were even worse than having to bond with the people in this crazy house.

“Hello everyone,” Andres greeted. “How was speed dating last night?" Everyone yelled out different answers but were mostly positive. “Any new connections?”

Daniel smiled, “I got to know Monica a bit better and we seem to have a lot in common.” 

“That’s great,” he smiled politely, having a hard time faking interest. “For today’s challenge, you’ll work in pairs. You need to get through the maze behind me with one person on each side and only your mouths connected by a hotdog wiener. The two couples who can get their wieners through the maze in the quickest time will win a special getaway date tomorrow. And I also have a special announcement for all of you - tonight you’ll all get to go on a date together outside of the house - a concert on the beach. How does that sound?”

Everyone cheered with the exception of Sergio, who was once again, using this time to glare at his brother over these ridiculous challenges and “dates”. A weiner through a maze?! Who the fuck was writing this bullshit?

The contestants were instructed to quickly paired up: Agata and Sergio, Marseilles and Raquel, Alicia and Silene, Suarez and Sofia, Mari Carmen and Anibal, Angel and Julia, Daniel and Monica, and Helsinki and Martin.

During the competition, pairs stayed inside while one team competed at a time. And what followed was, yet again, some good TV and laughs for Andres. Marseilles “accidentally” bit through the hotdog and spit it out before he and Raquel even started because it wasn’t vegan; Agata and Sergio struggled to communicate and it took the pair seven minutes to complete the maze; Angel and Julia got partway through and he bit it in half, leading to Julia making a joke about him not giving enough blowjobs; Alicia and Silene surprised Andres by getting their hotdog through the maze in just over one minute; Helsinki fell over partway through, leading to a minute of Martin cursing; and the rest of the couples made it through pretty smoothly.

Once everyone was in the backyard again, Andres announced that the winners for the challenge were Silene and Alicia and Mari Carmen and Anibal and the house would have the opportunity to vote them into the Truth Booth tomorrow.

“I can’t believe they would do that to me,” Marseilles complained as he and Raquel walked back into the house together. 

“It’s terrible,” Raquel agreed. 

“I would have loved to win a date with you,” he complained, “but I couldn’t do it at the expense of my morals. Do you forgive me?”

“Of course,” she smiled. “I respect you for putting your values above a silly competition.”

“I’m glad because I really think we could be a match,” he confessed.

 _He did?_ Raquel wondered, confused by his admission. During their speed date yesterday, he spent the whole time talking about how we missed his dog, Pamuk. 

“You never know,” she smiled politely. 

Agata then interrupted to which Raquel thankfully accepted and bid adieu to Marseilles. Perfect match? What was he on? She shook in an attempt to hold back the laughter until she saw Agata’s serious expression. “Can we talk?”

“Of course,” she agreed and followed her to one of the beds in the backyard where the two women took a seat.

“I hate asking this, but I need to know. Is there anything going on between you and Sergio?”

Raquel was completely taken aback by the question, “Of course not, what makes you think that?”

“The way you were laughing together during the speed date yesterday,” she admitted sadly. “I don’t want to be possessive and say you can’t get close to him…but I really think he and I could be a match”

Raquel saw how genuinely hurt she was and knew this wasn’t the time to get defensive. She was playing with her heart, “Sergio and I have bonded over our mutual annoyance at the game, but it’s nothing more than that.”

“Are you sure? He was actually laughing with you. He never laughs…”

“That was completely innocent. I was telling him a story about Paula.”

“You’ve already told him about your daughter?”

“We were talking about what books we were reading the other night and it came up.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry to be acting like a jealous idiot. I just really want him to like me.:”

“I get it,” she smiled, putting her hand over Agata's in comfort. “And he’d be crazy not to.”

Agata frowned at this. “That’s the problem. I don’t know if he does. He told me yesterday he doesn’t want anything romantic with anyone, including me...”

Raquel’s heart broke over the way her friend’s shoulders slumped forward. She now understood why Sergio had said the dates were terrible. “He’s not opening his heart,” Raquel shook her head in disappointment.

“I don’t want to keep chasing someone who doesn’t want me. This is what I always do, but I thought he was different, you know?”

“I don’t think he’d hurt you on purpose,” Raquel assured her and tried to think of a way to help her, “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“No!” she quickly denied. “Sorry, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. Do you think you can ease up a bit on him?”

“I already told you there’s nothing there…”

“I know, but I really want to take all the time I can to show him what we could have if he’d just let it happen.”

Raquel wanted to argue with her and point out how possessive she was coming across, but when she saw how defeated Agata looked, Raquel knew her only choice was to agree (for now). “I’ll stop talking to him so much,” she agreed. The last thing she wanted was to be a threat to someone in this game when she wasn’t playing for love herself.

“Thanks Raquel,” she smiled.

“It’s no problem,” she smiled, “I really hope you get him out of his shell. He needs someone like you who can show him just how fun life can be.”

“Thank you, that means a lot.”

“Now that that’s over,” Raquel smiled, “Who are we voting into the Truth Booth tomorrow?”

“I feel like Alicia and Silene are the better choice..”

Raquel frowned at the idea of them being a perfect match. She really didn’t want to be in this house without Alicia and Silene… she wasn’t sure if she felt a strong attraction to the women, but she liked having them around to flirt with.

“You’re right, but I don’t want them to be a match…”

“Are you feeling Alicia finally?”

“No, it’s not like that. They’re both fun to be around and the house would be a bit boring without them.”

“That’s true,” she agreed. “Mari Carmen and Anibal make no sense though. He’ll probably be panting over Silene during their dates tomorrow anyway.”

Raquel laughed, agreeing that match made no sense at all. 

“Thanks for being so cool about this, Raquel,” Agata smiled, going back to their previous conversation.

“Of course,” she smiled back at her friend, yet a small part of her wondered if making this promise was going to blow up in her face. 

* * *

Later that evening, the group got off a party bus at a beach bar designed exclusively for their large group date. There was a live cover band playing rock songs from the 70s and 80s, a small section of the beach was decorated with white lights, there was a large outdoor tent with a dance floor, and a bar to the back. And all this was complemented by the view of the stunning beach behind them in the darkness.

Alicia grabbed Raquel’s hand and dragged her to the bar before anyone else could get her attention, “I have to confess something,” she admitted nervously while gesturing to the bartender for two shots. “Silene and I had a little too much fun after the speed dating yesterday…”

“And now, I’m no longer your perfect match?” Raquel frowned but her words laced with humour while the two women took a shot.

“I think her tongue is…” Alicia smirked.

Raquel coughed in response, partly at the strength of the shot and partly at her shock over Alicia’s blunt confession, “I don’t want to hear this,” she laughed awkwardly and gestured to the bartender for two more shots.

“She gives amazing head, Raquel. What can I say? We have very little in common but she gave me one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had. You now have competition…” she teased.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Raquel laughed as she downed a second shot, hoping the alcohol could transport her away from this conversation.

“Are you jealous?” she asked hopefully.

“No,” Raquel smiled. “I’m happy you found your perfect tongue in the house.”

“Almost perfect. I have a feeling _yours_ would be perfect…” she flirted.

“You never stop…” Raquel giggled nervously.

“Think about how hot a night would be with me. The things I would do to your body….” she whispered in Raquel’s ear seductively, leaving a small kiss before she backed away.

Raquel could feel the heat running through her body, a combination of the alcohol and Alicia’s flirting, but she wasn’t going to give in to her. She downed one last shot and grabbed a cocktail from the counter, “You’re dangerous…”

“I know,” she smirked while taking her third shot. 

“I’m leaving,” Raquel announced and walked towards the large group of people dancing.

Alicia stood back smiling, relieved that she was finally getting somewhere with Raquel. She knew she’d have her sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before she’d let her guard down.

Raquel ran over to Monica, Mari Carmen, Julia and Sofia who were all dancing together to a cover of ‘London Calling’. 

“Raquel!” Monica yelled and pulled her in as the two began dancing together and laughing at all of their missteps.

On the beach, Agata was taking this time to try and get to know Sergio a bit more, but he was making it so difficult for her as he didn't hide the fact he wanted to be anywhere but at this party.

“What’s your favourite song?” she asked in an attempt to make small talk.

“I don’t really have one…”

“Ok, how about your favourite band?”

“Don’t have one…”

“What do you listen to?”

“I enjoy classical music. Sometimes, I’ll listen to opera…”

“Oh…” Agata was unsure of how to respond. She was starting to feel out of her league with him, “Do you want to dance?”

Sergio looked at dance floor to see most of the girls having fun together. He saw Silene come up from behind Raquel and put her arms around her. _What the-_

“I’m a terrible dancer,” he confessed. “But please go have some fun. I’ll be here.”

“Okay, but if you want to dance, come find me,” she smiled and then joined the other women who were dancing and laughing together. Sergio’s eyes moved back to Raquel who was now dancing really closely with Silene. When had they connected, he wondered. Unable to keep watching without feeling nauseous (it must be the fish he ate for dinner), he walked over to the bar where Marseilles and Angel were talking.

“Hey Sergio,” Marseilles greeted. “Want a beer?”

Sergio nodded and thanked him.

“You don’t dance?” Angel asked.

“Not at all,” Sergio laughed.

“Same, but I really wouldn’t mind dancing with a few of the women right now,” Angel confessed, watching them all moving their hips seductively.

“I thought about approaching Raquel but Silene beat me to it…. Not that I’m complaining,” Marseilles smirked as they watched what looked like Silene attempting to go in for a kiss but Raquel turning her head and whispering in her ear. Silene simply shrugged and walked off as Raquel made her way towards the bar.

“Hey guys!” she greeted and grabbed another cocktail. She was losing count over how much she was drinking, but she felt so good that it was almost impossible to stop. “Having fun?”

“Not as much as you,” Angel commented. Sergio could hear the bitterness in his voice, but Raquel was luckily oblivious to it. 

“I haven’t been able to party like this in so long,” she confessed and took a large sip of her drink.

Silene walked up behind them and grabbed a couple of shots, handing one to Raquel.

“I think she’s had enough,” Sergio interrupted, growing more and more worried about Raquel losing complete control.

Raquel frowned at him and downed the shot quickly, “All gone,” she laughed, staring right at Sergio as if she was daring him to continue giving her orders.

“Yesss!!” Silene cheered and hugged Raquel, “I have an idea! You should go on stage and sing with the band.”

No no no, Sergio thought. Bad idea.

“YES!” Raquel jumped up and chugged what was left of her cocktail. “I always wanted to be a rockstar,” she slurred, excited to check something off her bucket list.

“Now’s your chance,” Silene encouraged. She took her arm in hers ready to lead her to the stage, but Sergio quickly ran in front to block them. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“I’m fine, Sergio,” Raquel assured. “Don’t worry about me,” she slurred and pushed her body into his to move him out of the way and stumbled to the stage with Silene. When they got there, he watched them whisper to the band. They quickly nodded and handed the microphone to Raquel. All cameras moved to the stage to document this moment for TV, and he grew more worried that this would be something she’d regret tomorrow.

Sergio started to move closer to the stage as the chords to a rock song started. “This one is dedicated to this crazy game we’re playing… Pat Benatar, if you’re watching, I love you...”

_We are young_

_Heartache to heartache_

_We stand_

_No promises_

_No demands_

_Love is a battlefield_

She was really good, Sergio thought as she sang the first course flawlessly. Even completely wasted, she was able to perform it to near perfection. 

He was mesmerized by her. The tone of her voice, the genuine passion she had for the lyrics, how her hips moved, the way her hair blew in the wind as she danced…. She was breathtaking. The crowd was cheering and calling her name, but Sergio tuned it all out and only focused on her.

_When I'm losing control_

_Will you turn me away_

_Or touch me deep inside_

_And when all this gets old_

_Will it still feel the same_

_There's no way this will die_

_But if we get much closer_

_I could lose control_

_And if your heart surrenders_

_You'll need me to hold_

Sergio felt himself connecting to the lyrics, especially “ _But if we get closer, we could lose control_ ”. He was starting to feel himself losing some control around her. So many times, he’d tried to date people and feel _something_ and always failed; yet, after spending only days with her, he could feel a change brewing from within. He was getting more and more consumed by her, looking forward to talking to her, unable to keep his eyes off her when she walked into a room. This was uncharted territory for him. As an intellectual, he often frowned on people who let their emotions guide them, but here he was in a battle between his own emotions and logic. He truly hated his brother for putting him in this situation. 

Once the song was over, she thanked the band and went to walk off stage. This, unfortunately, was where it all went wrong. She tripped on the last step, falling flat on her face. Most of the group laughed drunkenly while Sergio quickly ran over to her side to make sure she was okay.

When she looked up, he saw her nose was bleeding and she had really scraped her knees. He put his hands under her arms to help lift her up from the ground.

“Did someone move the stairs?” she asked while leaning into him. The rest of the group, with the exception of Alicia and Martin who were nowhere to be seen, made their way over to them to see what was going on.

“Raquel, are you okay?” Agata asked, concerned. She went to her other side to help Sergio keep her upright. She tried to give him a look to say she could handle it, but Sergio completely ignored her, keeping his arm securely around Raquel’s waist.

“I’m allll goood,” Raquel smiled as she tried to free herself from Agata and Sergio but almost fell again when she did. Both of them held her tighter.

“You’re bleeding,” Monica gasped when she looked at Raquel’s face.

“I am?” She questioned and then looked at her hands covered in blood. “Oh shit, I am…”

Sergio shook his head over how oblivious she was. “I’m going to go back with her,” he told the group. Agata was ready to protest but was interrupted.

“We should all go back,” Monica offered but one of the producers stopped them and said they still had a few more hours of filming.

“Sergio, that means you too,” the producer said as he kept his hold on her much to the disappointment of Agata who was wishing he’d let her take control of this situation. His concern for Raquel was starting to piss her off. 

Sergio, however, wasn’t about to let her go back on her own with producers who’d only want to use her for “good TV”.

“No,” he said and then got closer and whispered, “I’ll tell everyone who my brother is if you don’t let me go back with her…”

“Ok, Sergio can come too,” they confirmed much to Agata’s disappointment.

“I can go too,” Agata offered, not liking the idea of these two being on their own.

“It’s okay, Agata,” Sergio stopped her, “I can take care of her. You should stay here and have fun. I’ve been looking for the perfect excuse to leave anyway,” he gave her a half smile. 

She wasn’t happy about this, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She let go of Raquel and watched as her friend snuggled into Sergio’s chest. This hurt. She was trying so hard not to feel jealous over this connection she could see slowly building between the two.

“We can film Sergio helping her in the house,” the producer confirmed to the crew. Sergio nodded and said goodbye to the rest of the group. Raquel was still curled up in his side, the alcohol making her too tired to even care about everything that was happening around her. As they walked off, Raquel was given a cloth from one of the other crew members to keep under her nose while Sergio kept his arm around to help her in the car. 

Once they were both in the backseat, Raquel quickly fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. Sergio wondered why he wasn’t feeling more uncomfortable by her close proximity. It must be his concern for her well-being, he thought. Yes, that sounded reasonable. 

When they got back to the house, she appeared more lucid after her short nap during the 20 minute drive. To ensure she didn’t fall again, he took her hand in his and walked her to the kitchen to pour her a large glass of water, “Drink this.”

She thanked him before taking a large sip from the glass. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was being so protective of her. She didn’t understand why, but she didn’t want to question it right now. She admittedly really liked that he was taking care of her as she was often the one who was always taking care of others. This was nice. She had a feeling he didn’t do this very often, and that made her feel special.

“Are you able to walk up the stairs?” he asked once she finished the glass of water.

“I hurt my nose,” she frowned. “My legs still work”, however, she almost tripped again when she tried to show off with a large step. Luckily, he was right there to catch her before she fell over. “Orrr maybe not,” she laughed, still feeling a bit dizzy from the copious amount of alcohol she consumed.

He effortlessly lifted her up into his arms and walked her up the stairs to the large bedroom. When he placed her on the bed, he realized he had no idea where her clothes were. In an effort to avoid asking her to explain where her suitcase was, he walked over to his own closet space and grabbed her a t-shirt and shorts.

“Put these on,” he ordered.

“These aren’t mine,” she refused.

“I know, they’re mine… put them on. You can’t sleep in that dress…”

“Fine… but turn around,” she ordered and he wanted to kick himself for finding her so adorably charming while completely wasted.

He closed his eyes tightly and turned around while he heard her changing. It took everything in him not to turn back around and look. That feeling of temptation confused him. He’d never felt a pull this strong towards someone before and couldn't comprehend why it was happening now. Perhaps it was the two beers he drank.

“I’m going to go get you a new tissue for your nose,” he announced and ran out of the room without looking back in fear of making a fool of himself in front of her. In the bathroom, he took a moment and pulled himself together. After splashing water on his face and giving himself a pep talk that all he was feeling was concern for a new friend, he wet a few tissues for Raquel.

When he returned to the room, she was sitting up in her bed, wearing his shirt. It was stirring something in him, but he wasn’t sure what or why. He sat next to her and took the tissue she had on her nose. He used this opportunity to take a closer look to see if the bleeding had stopped. Luckily, for her, it had.

He took the wet tissue and brought it to her nose, cleaning off the blood carefully and checking to make sure there were no breaks. “It looks good,” he smiled.

“Thank you, Sergio,” she responded completely touched by how gentle and caring he was with her. She didn’t deserve this in her current state. “I’m so embarrassed…”

“Don’t be,” he smiled, reassuring her that he wasn’t judging her for this.

“I haven’t been able to let loose like this for years. Working full time, taking care of my mom and daughter… I forgot what it was like to have fun… I guess I overdid it.”

“A little,” he admitted and they both smiled. 

“I can’t believe I sang with the band,” she put her face in her hands to conceal her embarrassment.

“That was amazing,” He complimented. “I was a bit worried when you ran up there, but you’re really talented. It was impressive.”

“Stop,” she blushed, playfully pushing him away and then frowned, remembering her promise to Agata. He was off limits, Raquel. No flirting, she scolded herself.

“What’s wrong,” he asked when he saw her frown. 

“Nothing,” she lied. “I’m just tired…”

“Go to sleep,” he whispered and pulled the blanket over her while she lay back in bed, getting comfortable.

“Can you stay until I fall asleep?” She asked in a small voice. She wasn’t ready to be alone yet.

“Of course,” he promised as he sat next to her on the bed again. When her eyes were closed, he couldn’t stop himself from moving a few strands of hair off of her face. When he realized what he’d done, he pulled his hand and turned away from her as if he’d just been burned.

“This sucks…” she mumbled with her eyes close.

“What does?” he asked worriedly, assuming she was starting to feel sick and was ready to find her a bucket.

“That you’re off limits,” she admitted while she turned around, snuggling deeper into her blanket.

Off limits? What did she mean? When he was about to ask, he heard a light snore, signifying that she’d fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [cheesy voiceover] Will Alicia and Silene be a perfect match? Who will Sergio choose during the next match-up ceremony? Will he ever know what Raquel meant by off limits? Tune in next time to find out. ;)


	3. "Prom" Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOW.. I'm honestly so blown away by all of the positive feedback on this story. I'm humbled and so touched... I don't know what to say. Thank you to everyone who has read the last two chapters, left kudos, comments, sent me tweets. It's inspires me to want to continue writing the characters in this crazy crack-filled world. And I will try to respond to comments asap because some of you have had in me in tears with how much you appreciate this story.
> 
> It's the perfect escape from this shit world right now for me as a (new) writer, and I'm happy it can bring a bit a joy to some of you. I hope you enjoy the new chapter. It's a bit of a wild ride. ;)

The next morning, Raquel walked into the kitchen, head pounding, aching nose, and a general feeling of malaise in search of something to help alleviate the pain. 

Her feeling of nausea, however, grew worse at the sight of the kitchen - dirty glasses all over the counter, the sink filled with dirty dishes, cans of beer scattered around the table and living room. _I’m living with animals,_ she groaned and started clearing the dishes out of the sink to start cleaning them. As much as she wished she could leave it, she knew no one else was going to take the initiative to keep this place clean.

After an hour of pre-washing the dishes, clearing garbage and disinfecting one of the counters while cursing everyone in the house, Sergio walked into the room to find Raquel swearing at a stain she was struggling to scrub, “fucking animals,” she muttered taking her anger out on what appeared to be a red wine stain on the white countertop.

Unsure of how to greet her while she looked like she was about to murder a washcloth, he went to the living room and began clearing the many bottles and cans that had been left by the other house guests.

“Who the fuck raised these idiots to leave a house like this,” she muttered to herself. “Gotcha!” she shouted in triumph at finally removing the stain. At this point, she noticed that Sergio had entered the room and was helping her clean without even needing to be asked. Can she take him home?

“Thanks Sergio,” she smiled while he organized the bottles and cans in the recycling area. “I guess they had an after party last night.”

“You didn’t hear them? They were shouting until 4 in the morning,” he winced at the memory. He was exhausted after a long night of trying to understand what she meant by ‘off limits’ and then having to hear Suarez yell every 5 minutes over some game they were playing.

Raquel walked into the living room and saw a bottle on the floor that Sergio had yet to pick up, “They were playing spin the bottle…” she shook her head in disbelief.

“Spin the bottle?” Sergio asked, confused.

Raquel looked at him, shocked he didn’t know the game. “You know, you spin the bottle and whoever it lands on, you have to kiss.”

Sergio coughed in shock. How could they play such a game? “That’s….” he stumbled over his words.

“Do you want me to demonstrate?” she smirked while mockingly spinning the bottle on the floor.

“Uh… well.. that’s…” Sergio blushed. 

Raquel laughed, taking pity on him, “I’m kidding.” 

“Yes, yes, I knew that,” he confirmed. “So last night, everyone was…”

“Kissing everyone?” she finished. “Yes… too bad we missed it,” she joked.

Sergio was frozen in place unsure of how to respond. 

Raquel laughed again over how tense he was that so many people played a highschool party game and walked the empty wine bottle to the recycling bin. “I’m joking with you,” she revealed and Sergio visibly relaxed. “It’s not my idea of fun anymore either.”

“Anymore?”

“I was 15 once. My first kiss was during a game of kiss the bottle. Miguel Velez. My braces got caught on his lower lip… 6 stitches later, he could never look me in the eye again, and no one else wanted to kiss me for the rest of high school,” she laughed bitterly at the memory.

“That sounds terrible,” Sergio said but she could see him trying to hold back a laugh.

“Let it out,” she rolled her eyes while he laughed. “I deserve my redemption from that.”

Sergio stopped laughing, contemplating getting the bottle out and offering to give her that moment of redemption, but she saved him from making a fool out of himself by walking past him and back to the kitchen to finish putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

He shook off these weird feelings he was experiencing and followed her, wanting to ask about last night;

“About last night…” he started awkwardly while playing with his fingers; confrontation wasn’t his strength.

Raquel looked up and saw how awkward he looked. She hoped she hadn’t done or said anything stupid. “Thank you,” she gave him a small smile as she turned on the dishwasher.

“For what?”

“For taking care of me,” she replied, utterly embarrassed by last night. “I can’t believe I let myself get that drunk. It was reckless of me,” she groaned.

“You were pretty out of it,” he agreed. 

“Did I do anything stupid?” She asked, dreading the answer. It was never fun to hear about all of the stupid things you did that had been erased from your memory.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“Falling off the stage after singing Pat Benatar,” she confessed, growing red at the memory of singing in front of a crowd. “Monica was the one who told me this morning that you brought me back here and helped me get in bed. I think I’m in your clothes?” She looked down at the beige t-shirt and white boxer shorts she was wearing.

“Uhh yes, I didn’t know where your clothes were and your dress didn’t look very comfortable...” he admitted.

“That was really sweet of you,” she smiled, touched by how caring he was; however, in her mind, she deserved to wake up with that dress digging into her.

“So you don’t remember anything after your fall?” He confirmed.

“Not at all,” she admitted and grabbed a washcloth and continued cleaning the counter. “Why? Did I say something stupid?”

“No no, not at all,” he confirmed honestly. “You could barely walk, but that was about it.”

“Oh good,” she sighed in relief. If he’s in here helping her clean, she couldn’t have said anything too embarrassing.

When she was about to continue asking him about last night, she saw Agata walk into the room glaring at her. _Oh shit, she did have some damage control to do._

“Good morning,” Raquel attempted to smile, but Agata completely ignored her, grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it with water and walked out of the room without saying a word.

“Fuck,” Raquel muttered, feeling terrible that she’d already broken her promise to her friend. 

Sergio stood frozen unsure of what had just happened in front of him, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, wishing Sergio wasn’t completely tone deaf when it came to people’s emotions. She could easily summarize that he’d hurt Agata last night by taking care of her, and he had no idea. “I’m going to go get dressed,” she finally said and left the room.

Sergio looked around the room confused. _What had just happened?_

* * *

With Van Morrison’s “Days Like These,” playing in the background, Raquel sat alone in a lounge chair by the pool. The shower and painkillers helped with the headache, but her body felt like a crushed up cracker.

“Hey Raquel,” a voice greeted and she looked up to see Anibal taking the seat next to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” she replied honestly, “I’m never drinking again,” she groaned.

“I know what you mean,” he agreed and then sat up in the chair in silence, unsure of how to approach this with Raquel.

“What’s going on?” Raquel asked when she saw the look of dread on Anibal’s face. “Is everything okay?”

“I hate to ask this, but you and Silene…”

Oh shit, here we go again, Raquel thought. Why did everyone think she was trying to steal someone from them?

“Are friends,” she finished for him. “She’s a flirt, but there’s absolutely nothing there. If you want to talk to someone who’s been having a lot of fun with her, talk to Alicia.”

Anibal’s eyes widened. _Shit, he didn’t know about them. Raquel, you idiot..._

“What kind of fun?”

“Umm… I don’t really know the details,” she lied as her mind reminded her of Alicia telling her Silene gave great head. Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

“So you aren’t planning to be with Silene,” he went back to his earlier question, ignoring what she revealed abou Alicia for now. _Crisis averted, she thought._

“No, of course not, what gave you that idea?”

“You were all over each other last night,” he confessed sadly.

Raquel sat up and took pity on the young guy. He was developing real feelings for someone like Silene who kept her heart more guarded than the Spanish government’s gold. “She’s a flirt,” Raquel repeated. “I’m not interested in having any type of relationship with her that isn’t a platonic friendship.”

“Can you maybe… stay away from her for a bit then?” he asked, yet his eyes couldn’t meet hers. “She seems to have her eye on you, and I really think she’s my match.”

Fucking. Fuck. Here she was again, being told to stay away from someone. When, in both cases, she wasn’t the only one who was talking and, in the case of Silene, flirting. In fact, she wasn’t even the one who instigated it. 

“I’m going to give you some advice,” she said, holding in her anger at having this conversation twice now. “Silene is not the type who wants someone to be possessive of her. She’s a free spirit. Her light is brightened by her freedom. You try and dull that light, and she will resent you for it.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Watch her hit on everyone and let her keep breaking my heart?” He complained.

“I know it hurts,” she empathized as she turned to face him. “But all you can do is show her that you’re someone she can really rely on without telling her what to do. After some time, she’ll get tired of the meaningless hook-ups and want something real, but until then, all you can do is show her that you can be someone she trusts.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” he admitted sadly. 

“Then you’re not her match,” she tells him honestly. “Because that’s what she needs…”

“Do you think you’re her match?” he responded, scared of the answer. Raquel could hear how vulnerable he was feeling in the way he asked her.

“No, I’m not her match,” Raquel confirmed. “We’re not looking for the same things in a relationship.”

“So, you’re not planning to sleep with her?”

Raquel rolled her eyes. Was he really this dim? “No, I have no desire to sleep with her.”

“Ok,” he sighed in relief. “So, now I wait?”

“You wait,” she confirmed, getting up from the chair and going back to the house. In two days, she’s had this same conversation with two different people. Was she doing something to make others feel threatened? She dreaded the answer to that question.

* * *

  
Sergio made his way back into the house after a long walk on the parts of the beach he was allowed to explore. He needed to clear his head as living in this house was getting to him in ways he never anticipated. He had assumed he’d be annoyed by the behaviour of everyone around him for the duration of this ridiculous game, but he never expected that he’d start to care about some of the people in here. That he could feel himself being plagued by his own emotions and transforming into a version of himself he didn’t recognize. He was never the type to want to take care of others, and he never got a rush of endorphins at the mere sight of someone.

This game was destroying him, and he didn’t know how to stop it. It felt like he was having an out of body experience, and he wanted to tell the version of Sergio in this house to stop with this nonsense. Focus on the strategy, on winning the money, and brainstorming ways of getting back at his brother. He needed to put his focus back on what mattered. 

As he walked in the living room, he resolved that he’d keep his heart out of this house. The whole idea of a ‘perfect match’ was obscene. So why was it all of a sudden the only thing he could think about? No.

He needed to get back to thinking about his course structure for next term, and his business plan for opening up a law firm. Yes, that was exactly what he was going to do from now on. 

_Good talk, Sergio,_ he thought to himself with a hint of a smile.

However, all of that new sense of self was completely forgotten when he saw Raquel curled up on the couch visibly upset. Had she been crying? Everything in his mind told him to walk away, but his legs didn’t seem to listen as he was suddenly by her side.

“Raquel,” He greeted and sat next to her, “Are you okay?” _Idiot,_ the version of Sergio "watching" from the outside scolded. 

“Never better,” she smiled sarcastically and continued to stare at the wall in front of her.

**//**

At the same time, Agata walked into the kitchen to see Raquel and Sergio on the couch together and rolled her eyes. _Again?!_

“It sucks doesn’t it?” A voice asked from behind.

“What does?”

“That your nerd is obsessed with my nerd…”

“Alicia...” Agata sighed. 

“Don’t worry, she has no clue,” Alicia assured. “And maybe we can work together to keep it that way.”

“I don’t want to play games.”

“Oh please,” she laughed, “Didn’t you already tell her to stay away from him?”

“How did you know?”

“You just confirmed it,” she laughed. “It seemed like a move you’d play.”

Agata looked down, feeling terrible over her talk with Raquel. Who was she to tell someone what to do in a game like this? She was letting her old habits get the best of her.

“I wonder what they’re talking about.” Alicia asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Who knows?”

“Let’s have some fun… I’ll be the professor and you be Raquel,” she suggested and then deepened her voice, “Oh Raquel, I have some nerdy things to tell you.. blah.. Foucault...blah.”

Agata rolled her eyes. 

“Fine, I’ll be Raquel too,” she sighed and increased the pitch of her voice, “Oh that’s so smart. Did you know this other nerdy fact about it?”

She deepened her voice again, “I didn’t know that nerdy fact. I’m so turned on now but I can’t tell you that so I’ll just sit here awkwardly and stare at you…”

Alicia looked at Agata and encouraged her to join the play she was acting out based on the scene in front of her but Agata remained silent.

“Fine,” She groaned and continued with her Raquel impression, “Now, I’m going to smile and pretend I’m not at all interested in you… hmmm, a piece of thread on the couch, I’ll play with that now…”

**//**

Raquel and Sergio, having no idea they were currently being watched, sat in silence for a few minutes until Raquel blurted out the question she couldn’t get out of her mind, “Do you think I’m the season’s vixen?”

“The what?” he choked out in shock, but she continued her thought.

“Is this how they’ll edit me on the show? The person who gets in between everyone’s perfect match like some terrible villain?”

“That’s crazy,” Sergio responded, confused as to where these thoughts were coming from.

“Two people have told me to stay away from who they think their match is like I’m the reason they aren’t together. Am I doing something that makes people believe that I would want to cause trouble? Fuck, I haven’t even kissed anyone.”

And suddenly, something clicked for Sergio. He was off limits for her because someone, he looked to his right to see Agata standing with Alicia, told her to stay away. _Bingo._ He could feel his anger starting to brew inside over how not only the thought of Agata talking to her on his behalf, but also that she’d hurt the amazing woman in front of him. She was supposed to be her friend. “You’ve done nothing wrong,” he responded.

“If this show edits me like the season's temptress, I could lose her,” she whispered to herself. Sergio wanted to push for more, but when he saw the look of despair in her eyes, he knew this wasn’t the type to ask for clarification. 

**//**

On the other side of the room, Alicia and Agata continued to watch the two with great interest. 

Alicia, completely oblivious to how serious the conversation was, resumed her performance, “Oh Sergio, I’m really craving some churros right now. Why can’t they bring me churros? Like isn’t fair…”

In her deep Sergio voice, she responded to herself, “I’ll get you all the churros, but first let me tell you about the capitalist system that makes us all crave churros. But I’ll still get you the churros because you’re so pretty…”

Agata finally broke into a smile over how ridiculous Alicia’s impersonations were.

“Finally,” She sighed, “I got you to smile….was that really so hard?” 

“It was,” she laughed in return.

“Remember what you said when you got in here,” Alicia reminded, ‘“I chase people who don’t want me, so one of you motherfuckers better chase me’… Stop working so hard to build a connection with someone, especially as socially awkward as that idiot, and let it happen naturally. Maybe then he’ll start to see you,”

“You think so?” she asked hopefully.

“Who the fuck knows? I’m drunk, but it sounded good, right?” Alicia laughed and then left the room, leaving Agata completely confused over what had just happened.

**//**

Sergio could see how stressed this was making her, and he wished he could call his brother right now and tell him to shut this all down. Someone as kind-hearted as Raquel didn’t deserve a show like this to tear her life apart, especially when her reasons for being here were so noble. 

“I’m so sorry to unload on you, Sergio,” she apologized while wiping away her tears. “I’ve been doing my best to get to know everyone in here so we can win this game, but all I seem to be doing is hurting people…”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Sergio repeated, hoping she could start to see that herself.

“But I don’t know what’s being said about me on camera or how the editing will make all these moments look. If I come out of this embarrassing my mom and daughter, I don’t know if I could live with that. They deserve better than that,” the tears were now freely falling from her cheeks, and Sergio grew more and more awkward. Emotions weren’t his strength, but all he wanted was to find a way to help her and let her know she wasn’t alone in here.

“You could never embarrass them,” Sergio assured. “You’re one of the few playing this game with integrity, and I didn’t even think that was possible in a game like this,” he smiled and she gave him a small smile in return.

“That means a lot coming from you,” she replied, completely touched by his words.

Sergio then did something that shocked both of them: he put his hand over hers to offer comfort. 

Raquel looked down at their hands and then back to his eyes, seeing how difficult it was for him to initiate this and appreciating how he was pushing himself outside of his comfort zone to show her support. She turned her hand and held his in hers, giving it a soft squeeze in gratitude. 

“Thank you,” she whispered through tears, thankful to have a friend in this house.

He continued to stare at her, again, unable to control his other hand moving to her cheek to wipe the tears from it. “You won’t be edited poorly,” he promised. “It’s not possible for someone as kind and caring as you are.”

Raquel, completely blown away by his words, pulled him into a hug. It took him a few seconds to move his arms around her waist as he was shocked by her gesture. It felt like it was happening in slow motion - her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder, her chest nearly touching his. His mind was in overdrive, and yet his body eased into this new form of affection as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him. It confused him how his mind and body appeared to be two separate entities. He didn’t know which one to trust.

Raquel was finding herself getting lost in the comfort of his arms until she saw Agata from across the room. She quickly pushed back and kept her hands on his shoulders.

“Your perfect match is lucky to have you,” Raquel smiled wistfully as she looked at Agata who she realized saw their whole exchange. She was done being put in the middle of people’s presumed matches in this game, even if in this case, it was hurting her to walk away. 

Sergio’s eyes followed Raquel’s… _wait, did she think?_

Raquel stood up, thanked Sergio again for his comforting words, and walked over to Agata to make it clear she wasn’t getting in her way, “He’s all yours,” she said, the double meaning not lost on Agata and Sergio.

Agata watched her leave the room shocked by her words, realizing that she wasn’t being fair to someone who she called a good friend days ago. She looked back at Sergio who appeared angry, and she suddenly wanted the ground to swallow her up and away from this game. What had she done?

As she walked over and sat next to him on the couch, Sergio remained still. The silence between them was filled with tension and apprehension. Agata, who felt guilty for getting in between their budding friendship and Sergio, who wanted to confront her for hurting Raquel. After a minute of silence, Sergio felt he had the perfect analogy to get him through this difficult conversation.

“In the early 1900s, Leopold Stokowski did the unthinkable and re-arranged the orchestra for the first time in history. It was to experiment with creating the perfect sound, but some of the arrangements made no sense. I mean, he put the winds and brass in front of the strings. Why would he think that was a good idea?” Sergio laughed over that ridiculous piece of history.

Agata, completely lost over why he was suddenly talking about orchestras, tried to see the humour in this, “That’s crazy...”

“Isn’t it?” He laughed, completely oblivious that she had no idea what he was talking about and continued, “It would be so boring to watch them in front… but with that experimentation came a decision in the 1920s that has stayed with American orchestras to this day - which was placing all the violins together for the first time. This was to help musicians to hear one another better, and it seemed to really work…”

“Okay…” Agata commented, unsure of where he was going with this.

Sergio, realising she was lost, decided to try and make his point more clear, “In a game where we’re trying to make the perfect arrangement, sometimes we may be putting winds and brass in the wrong spot. We may think it’s the right decision at the moment, but it doesn’t work in hindsight.”

“Right…” she agreed yet was still trying to piece together this riddle in her mind. He did know she didn’t know what any of this was, right?

“And telling the violins to sit at the back so that the winds can be up front can ruin the balance of sound…” He said, his tone completely serious as his way of informing her not to tell Raquel to sit back when they didn’t yet know what the perfect balance was in the game.

Agata, unfortunately, was still trying to figure out what winds even meant but to save face, nodded as a way of showing she agreed with him. 

Sergio, relieved she understood his point, breathed a sigh of relief, “I’m glad we had this talk.”

“Me too…?” Agata responded, completely lost but relieved he didn’t seem angry anymore.

With that, Sergio patted her on the knee and got up towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He was proud of himself for finally being direct when it came to his emotions. 

* * *

In the early evening, Andres walked into the living room with a smile on his face. All of the contestants were sitting on the large L-shaped couch with the exception of Anibal, Mari Carmen, Silene and Alicia who were seated on tall tools behind everyone. 

“How were the dates?” Andres asked once the cameras were rolling.

“Terrible,” Alicia groaned. “This fucker couldn’t stop staring at us the whole time like some little creep,” she informed while pointing at Anibal.

“I did not,” he disagreed, pouting in his chair clearly feeling upset by more than just her comments.

Silene, feeling uncomfortable, offered, “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Please,” Alicia sighed, “he had this amazing woman” pointing to Mari Carmen “and when we were going snorkeling he spent the whole time swimming close to you. Fucking rude if you ask me.”

“No one did,” Anibal growled. 

“And then when we separated for dinner, just when it was getting good, he appears, sits across from us and starts eating a carrot. A fucking carrot!” Alicia continued, impersonating him eating a carrot. “Do you know how unsexy that is? I could have been down for a threesome but after how he chews? Keep that mouth away from me.”

The group started snickering at her comments as Anibal grew more and more red. 

“I feel sorry for whoever your match is,” Anibal countered. “The fact you even have one in here is shocking.”

“Ok, let’s end this here,” Andres announced while trying to hold back a laugh. Casting did a wonderful job on this show. A beautiful group of trainwrecks. “Any other connections forming this week?”

When everyone shrugged, Andres frowned. These people really sucked at this game, “I have a special surprise for you tonight. Before the match-up ceremony tomorrow, we’re throwing you an American style 80s prom! We have colourful tuxedos and big dresses for you all to transport back in time and have some fun. It’s going to be totally tubular!”

The whole house laughed and cheered while Sergio was rolling his eyes. A prom? Was this show really this ridiculously cheesy? How does ugly formal wear and alcohol lead people to their perfect match? He was going to have a serious talk with the person who planned this embarrassing game.

“But first, let’s see if you have another reason to celebrate tonight and take a look at who you’re sending to the Truth Booth. Remember, this is your only chance to identify if a couple is a perfect match.”

On the screen behind them, Alicia and Silene’s photos appeared. “You all voted for Silene and Alicia. Alright ladies, let’s go see if you’re a match.”

The rest of the house stared at the screen in anticipation of getting their first match. There were many reasons these two could be a match, and it would give them some clarity on this game. Raquel, however, was filled with dread over the idea of losing a couple of friends in the house. No one could make her laugh like Alicia and she needed that right now.

After a couple of minutes of silence while everyone watched the screen intensely, the words “No Match” appeared. Everyone groaned with the exception of Anibal who looked like a cat who just ate a canary. “I told you all,” he grinned smugly. 

Back in the booth, Alicia and Silene looked at each other not surprised by the result at all. “We can still have sex though, right?” Alicia asked.

“Obviously,” she agreed and followed her back into the house to meet the relieved and disappointed looks in the group.

“No match,” Silene shrugged and went to sit by Anibal who she noticed was relieved. She could feel herself caring for him but wasn’t ready to let him know that yet. It was too soon. 

“Enjoy tonight, everyone,” Andres smiled and said his goodbyes to the group. 

The producers brought out a few racks of clothes for the contestants to use - some of the biggest and ugliest dresses they could find along with tuxes in every colour of the rainbow. This was definitely going to be an interesting night, Raquel thought. While she chose a black dress with large electric pink shoulder poofs and pink skirt, Suarez walked up to her with his selected black suit and baby pink shirt with ruffles in his hand. 

“We match,” he smiled, eyeing her dress.

“Nice pick,” she smiled in return.

“Now you have to save me a dance…” he flirted.

“That depends,” she smirked. “You don’t have someone who thinks you’re a perfect match, do you?”

“Not even close,” he confirmed.

“Then I’ll see you tonight,” she smiled and walked out of the living room to get ready, leaving Suarez grinning in anticipation for a good night.

What she didn’t see, however, was Sergio on the other side of the clothing rack holding a maroon tuxedo and white shirt, feeling confused over why he felt like someone sucker punched him in the chest after hearing their whole exchange.

* * *

Multicoloured fluorescent lighting, a gaudy balloon arch, streamers everywhere, cut-outs of stars and moons - this was officially the tackiest room that Sergio had ever walked into. Yet again, he wished he could transport himself out of this nightmare.

“Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic” was playing in the background where he saw a few people already dancing and talked - Marseille and Angel were talking in the corner of the living room where the couches had been taken out to fit a dance floor and DJ. Monica, Julia, Sofia and Daniel were dancing together. 

Sergio stood awkwardly unsure of how to include himself in this madness.

“Professor,” he heard a voice behind him and turned to see Silene smirking at him. “What do you think? Should we just get out of here and skip to the ‘prom night’? I’d be happy to deflower you...”

Sergio nearly choked on his saliva, “I….that…I’m not...” he stumbled.

She laughed and patted him on the shoulder, “You’re too easy.”

“You got me again,” he rolled his eyes, letting himself see the humour in this rather than getting annoyed as he had in the past.

“Do you want to dance?” she offered and he shook his head.

“I don’t dance,” he responded.

“That’s too bad, I was starting to think we had the best connection here,” she teased.

Sergio rolled his eyes, but he was getting used to her teasing. Before he could respond, Martin appeared behind them, “I’ll dance with you,” he offered and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor.

Sergio didn’t have much time alone as Suarez suddenly appeared with a beer in his hand. “Waiting for your perfect match?” he asked.

Sergio lost his breath for a second. Was he talking about who he thought he was? But his answer came quickly when Agata appeared behind him. 

“There she is,” Suarez smiled and then walked towards the dance floor.

Did everyone think he was with Agata? How did this happen… he didn’t remember giving any indication that he thought they were a match. 

“You look nice,” Agata complimented, looking him up and down in his maroon suit, “This colour suits you.”

Sergio smiled and tried to offer her the same compliment, but her puffy baby blue dress was a bit jarring. “Your dress is…”

“Wild, I know” she laughed. “I thought it was too ugly not to wear.”

Alicia then walked into the room with Raquel close behind her, and Sergio’s mouth went dry. Her dress had a tight black bodice that showed off her curves, and then flared out into a short electric pink skirt that started at her hips and ended mid thigh. The large shoulder poofs on the dress dress made a statement but she made it work with her big hair that was teased and crimped. How could she manage to look so adorable and sexy at the same time, Sergio wondered.

The song changed to “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. All of the girls screamed and ran to the dance floor, leaving Sergio on his own again to observe everyone else. He moved to the kitchen counter, grabbed a beer, leaned on the large surface and continued to watch the group singing and jumping when “I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it” came on.

He couldn’t help but smile watching Raquel’s big smile while she danced, thankful she was feeling better after their talk this afternoon. He noticed that there still appeared to be tension between her and Agata who worked hard at avoiding her, but he hoped they could work this out. 

Suarez grabbed Raquel’s hand and spun her around, bringing her closer to him to begin dancing together when the next song came on. 

“You promised me a dance,” he smiled.

“You certainly know how to get what you want,” she laughed, impressed over how smooth this transition was.

“I do,” he breathed out, bringing her body even closer to his and moving his hands to her hips. “You’re a good dancer,” he complimented.

Raquel blushed over how forward he was being and couldn’t help but be flattered that someone so good looking would be interested in her with all of these young and beautiful men and women in the house.

Alicia, not about to let her perfect match be stolen but Mr. Beef and No-brains, came up behind Raquel and started dancing with her. Feeling claustrophobic after a few minutes of being sandwiched between the two, Raquel excused herself and walked into the kitchen to catch her breath. 

There she found Sergio leaning on the counter looking extremely out of place. This guy really needed help with letting himself have fun, she concluded. “You’re not going to join the party?” she asked while grabbing a beer.

“It’s not really my thing,” he admitted, taking a long sip of his drink.

“That’s too bad,” she smiled. “I know it’s not cigars and Brahms, but there’s freedom in acting like a kid again.”

He simply nodded, knowing this wasn’t the right setting to talk about the fact that he didn’t have the freest childhood.

She followed his eyes to the dance floor, “Agata looks beautiful, doesn’t she,” she smiled. “The dress is crazy but if anyone could pull it off it’s her.”

“She does,” Sergio agreed objectively.

“She really likes you,” Raquel smiled tightly. 

Sergio took another sip of his drink unsure of how to respond, hating this conversation for many reasons. 

When the first few chords of “Uptown Girl” started to play, she put her drink down. “Want to join me?”

_Yes._

“No thanks, I don't feel like embarrassing myself on camera” he responded awkwardly, ignoring the voice in his head. He watched her make her way back on the dance floor to be quickly grabbed by Suarez who brought her close to him again and suddenly, he was regretting not being able to make himself say yes.

“Sad,” he heard from a voice next to him.

“What is?” he asked.

“Your puppy dog eyes for Raquel,” Alicia confirmed, pouring herself a shot of Tequila.

“I don’t have…”

“Save it…” Alicia stopped him while downing the shot. “I’m not going to be like your other girlfriend and tell you to back off.”

“What?”

“But I will tell you this. That woman is one of the best people I’ve ever met, and if you hurt her, I’ll cut off your balls, sell them to a Russian hitman, and ask him to kill you with them.”

Sergio, completely taken aback by her threat, couldn’t stop the look of fear that appeared on his face.

“Enjoy the rest of your night,” she smirked and walked off to the backyard with Silene.

When “Every Breath You Take,” by The Police came on, the large group on the dancefloor broke into couples and started to slow dance - just like the high school proms in the movies. Using this opportunity to get closer to her match, Agata came up to Sergio and asked if he’d dance with her.

Seeing Raquel in Suarez’s arms, he couldn’t stop himself from saying yes, shocking the two of them. As they moved to the dance floor, his eyes stayed on Raquel the whole time - even as Agata put her hands around his neck and he delicately placed his hands on her waist. Why was he feeling like his heart was falling out of his chest? Was it the atmosphere? The music?

“I’m so glad you said yes,” Agata sighed happily in his arms and he suddenly felt terrible because he hadn’t thought of her even once while he was literally holding her. 

He nodded in response but his eyes stayed on Raquel and Suarez, unable to tear them away if he tried. 

When Raquel looked up at him to see Agata in his arms, she couldn’t help but feel a small ping of sadness. They were starting to build on their connection, she feared. She should be happy for them. She wanted the two of them to be happy, but she couldn’t help the sinking feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach over how wrong this felt. She caught his eye as the final chords of the song played and saw something she didn’t expect - yearning? Was he looking at her? Or thinking of the woman in his arms? Before she could confirm, the song changed to “Walking on Sunshine” and the group started jumping around again. She excused herself and ran towards the nearest washroom to catch her breath.

What was happening to her, she sighed while steadying herself on the counter. She came here to win the money. Her strategy was to get to know everyone so she could use her skills to determine who the psychologists would pair together as perfect matches. She was never supposed to develop any type of feelings for someone in here. Fuck. This was bad. And to someone who would never feel the same way about her. Who she suspected wasn’t capable of romantic attraction after a few conversations with him. And if he was, why would it be her? A mother in her early 40s with a sick mother and a demanding job. She couldn’t give him the type of relationship he deserved.

But Agata could. 

As much as it pained her to come to that conclusion, she knew she was right. Agata could show him how to take life less seriously. Resigned and unable to continue dwelling on this, Raquel fixed her hair and smoothed out her dress.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she ran into a hard body who’d been waiting for her. Suarez.

“Are you okay?” He asked, concerned over how quickly she ran away.

“Yes, sorry, I’m fine. I’m just tired and it’s been a long day,” she confessed.

“I’m really good at giving massages,” he offered seductively. “I could help you release some of that tension…”

“That’s a kind… and tempting offer,” _very tempting,_ “but I’m going to have to say no.”

“Is there someone else,” he asked.

“No,” she muttered sadly, “I’m just not here for that. I hope you can understand.”

“Of course,” he smiled when he remembered there were cameras all around them. Truthfully, he felt led on tonight with the way they were dancing. He’d been expecting a _very_ happy ending. 

Raquel, seeing the frustration written across his face, decided this was the time to walk away before this turned into something he couldn’t take back. 

She walked back into the main room where a few members of the group were still dancing. Many had separated into small groups and couples to talk - Monica, Julia and Daniel were laughing together, Angel and Marseille were dancing with Mari Carmen and Sofia, Anibal was sitting by the pool with his feet dangling in the water looking completely heartbroken, and Helsinki and Martin were enjoying cigars in a dark corner of the backyard. She sensed that they were sleeping together, but she wasn’t sure. She looked around to see if Alicia was available to talk, but she was missing along with Silene, so it only took a couple of guesses as to where they were. She was sure they’d let her join them, she smiled, thinking about how crazy they both were. It may help her mood tonight, she considered. 

And then there was Agata and Sergio who were seated on stools in the kitchen talking. Her heart sank since it appeared they were really enjoying each other’s company. No, she stopped herself, this is a good thing, Raquel. 

She had a couple of options: she could go back to the dance floor or she could go to bed. Bed sounded really good, she had to admit. The only obstacle was she had to walk past Sergio and Agata.

Raquel, you are not 15 anymore. Just walk past them, smile, and get the fuck out of this room. One foot in front of the other. You’ve been doing it since you were two. 

Taking a deep breath, she began to walk across the room towards the stairs to the bedroom, keeping her eyes focused ahead in an effort to pretend she didn’t notice them. 

Success. They didn’t seem to look up from their conversation, and she made it to the stairs and was that much closer to bed.

Sergio, unsurprisingly, saw her walk across and instantly felt like something felt off with the way she avoided him and Agata completely. Did something happen?

“So then I told my boss ‘I QUIT YOU SON OF A BITCH’ and walked out,” Agata smiled triumphantly as she was in the middle of the story she’d been telling Sergio about some of her more colourful jobs. They had been talking about all of the jobs she’d had since she was 16 as she’d basically been supporting herself since then. Sergio was impressed by her strength and resiliency to build a whole life for herself so young. He started to think she was right - they were likely a match in this game… so why couldn’t he stop thinking about the woman who’d just all but ran past them?

A few minutes later, he looked up and saw Suarez grinning smugly as he walked into the room. He was growing more and more concerned for Raquel and wanted to find her to ensure she was okay, but he didn’t want to be rude to Agata. Luckily, fate appeared to be on his side when Alicia and Silene walked back into the room, smiling together and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” began to play. Silene ran up to Agata and grabbed her hand to lead her to the dance floor. This song brought the party back, and this was Sergio’s chance to slip out of the room.

* * *

Raquel was feeling slightly better after taking a long shower and changing into her most comfortable sweats. She never wanted to see that death trap of a dress ever again or hear another cheesy pop song from that decade. Why couldn’t they have played Van Morrison or some good rock? She walked into the shared closet and cleaned up her area before walking into the empty bedroom. 

Bed, at last, she sighed happily and walked to her mattress ready to fall on it in bliss. However, when she removed her comforter, she saw wet stains all over her sheet. What the fuck?

She took a closer look and realized what it was - piss. Suarez. 

That son of a bitch peed all over her bed because she didn’t have sex with him. Oh, she was going to KILL him. How old was he?!

“Mother fucker!” She yelled as she looked at the damage he did to her bed. As she was about to storm downstairs, she saw Sergio at the door, looking completely confused by her cussing.

Just her luck. Can’t she catch a break tonight?! 

“Are you okay,” he asked, concern written all over his face.

“Honestly? I’ve been better,” she responded, trying to hold in her anger. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Come here,” she commanded and then showed him her bed that had rings of something wet that looked like a bullseye of water on her bed.

“What’s this?” 

“Piss,” she gritted her teeth, trying to hold back the fury she was getting ready to unleash on that son of a bitch.

“Who peed on your…” and then a flash of Suarez walking past him looking smug came to mind and it clicked. “Suarez”

“Ding ding ding! Now, I’m going to kill him,...”

Sergio grabbed her arm to stop her, “Don’t give into his pettiness.”

“He. peed. on. my. bed,” she emphasized.

“And what are you going to do?”

“Knee him so hard in the dick he won’t be using it for a month,” she revealed.

Sergio winced when she said it, feeling the pain in his own. She ran out of the room ready for a fight, and he chased after her in an effort to stop her. “Raquel, I know you can handle yourself, but violence isn’t the answer here. We can think of a better way of getting back at him.”

“I’m listening, but you have 10 seconds to suggest something better than my knee,” she said at the top of the stairs. 

He thought for a second and then something came to mind, “We put laxatives in his coffee tomorrow. Let’s give him a day in the bathroom for this.”

“Ok, that’s a fun idea,” she reluctantly accepted, realizing that she’d create so much drama if she started kicking and slapping him in front of everyone. He was lucky they didn’t let her pack her gun.

Sergio smiled, “See? I’m not just a boring and stuffy professor,” he declared proudly.

“That’s still debatable,” she smiled, feeling a bit calmer.

When they walked back in the room, she realized she didn’t have anywhere to sleep. Shit.

When she paused in the middle of the room, Sergio grew concerned again, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have anywhere to sleep,” she admitted.

“Oh.”

“I’ll figure something out. You should get back to the party.” She gave him his out. She tried to think about where in the house she could sleep and moved closer to her bed again to assess how deep the wet stain went. She pulled off the covers to see the stain on the mattress. “That piece of shit,” she muttered. 

When she turned around, she saw Sergio still standing in the middle of the room lost in thought. 

“I’m pretty sure you have some people waiting for you downstairs,” Raquel offered again thinking about how she could sleep in the closet. As she began to make her way out of the room, Sergio stopped her.

“Where are you going?” 

“I’m going to make myself a bed in the closet,” she informed him. 

“No, you can’t do that. People will be walking in and out all night.”

“I’ll find a quiet corner in the house then,” she sighed. He even got her pillow, that son of a bitch.

“With what?”

“I don’t need anything,” she said as she began to walk out of the room but was stopped by his hand grabbing her arm gently.

“Sleep in my bed,” he offered nervously.

“But then where would you sleep?” she asked dumbly.

She looked at him standing there nervously and realized what he was offering.

“Oh..”

“To sleep,” he started nervously. “I would never…”

“I know,” she smiled. She looked at the single mattress in the corner of the room - at least it was hidden from everyone else. “Are you sure that’s okay? It’s a pretty small bed… I don’t want to put you out.”

“You won’t be,” he confirmed. “I’ll feel better knowing you weren’t in the corner of the house somewhere…”

“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you, Sergio. You saved me from terrible back pain tomorrow.”

He gestured to the bed and informed her he was going to quickly wash his face and get ready for bed as well. When she got into his bed, she noticed right away that it smelled of him, and she could feel herself getting warm. Or maybe this was the worst idea ever, she realized. Suddenly, that corner of the hallway was looking really appealing.

Sergio walked back into the bedroom in his pajamas, the nerves of sharing a bed with her starting to get to him. What was he doing? Why had he made such a ludicrous offer?

When she saw him, she shifted closer to the wall to give him more room. He carefully got into the bed, trying not to touch her at all. He got under the covers and stayed on his back, completely still.

“If this is too awkward,” she offered when she saw how tense he was next to her.

“No, it’s okay. It’s been a long time since I’ve shared bed with someone…” he turned on his side to face her, and she did the same, leaning her back on the wall.

“So what happened?” He asked.

“To make Suarez piss on my bed?”

“Yeah…”

“We’d been dancing and having fun together,” she began and Sergio had to fight rolling his eyes. He knew that part. “And then I left to go to the toilet, and he waited outside of the door for me…” 

Sergio’s widened at this. Oh no...

“He asked if I was okay, and I said yes and that I was only tired… so he offered to give me a massage which was code for sex. I turned him down, he thought I was a tease, so he peed on my bed...”

“What a jerk,” Sergio responded angrily, tempted to go downstairs and deliver that kick he stopped her from giving him.

“Yeah,” she breathed out. “There was a look in his eyes that told me he wasn’t going to accept me turning him down so easily…”

“He didn’t…”

“No, nothing like that happened. The one good thing about there being cameras all over this house.”

“I can’t believe he did this…”

“I can,” she sighed. “I’ve dated a lot of guys like Suarez. Hell, I married one who was worse than him.”

“You’re married?”

“Divorced,” she revealed. “And my first time being single in 8 years is in this crazy game…”

“Most people start with a dating app…” he smiled.

“I’m not most people,” she joked.

“No, you’re definitely not,” he whispered, staring into her eyes, causing her to blush slightly. How was this man in his PJ’s designed only for librarians, stirring up so many feelings in her - feelings she’d repressed for years.

“Anyway,” he changed the subject as it was taking everything in him not to show her how _excited_ he was to have her so close, “We should get some sleep.”

“You’re right,” she whispered “Thank you for being such a great friend to me in here…” while putting her hand over his that was resting in the open space between their chests to show her appreciation, feeling more comfortable with the new closeness developing between them. Without thinking, he did something that shocked her: he turned his hand under hers to intertwine their fingers, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. 

“Anytime,” he whispered, trying to keep his voice steady, but he was struggling with her being so close to him - freshly showered, face glowing, warm body. She was a vision. What was happening to him? 

She gave his hand one last squeeze and turned around to shift her focus from embarrassing herself by making a move on him when he was clearly only being a good friend to getting some much needed sleep. But for the first time in years, she was wishing for more. And that terrified her.

Sergio pulled the blanket over their shoulders, shielding her from the eyes of the rest of the houseguests when they began to make their way into the room in a few hours. Surprisingly, he felt comfort from the warmth of the bed and with her body next to his. He thought he’d dread sharing a bed but somehow this felt right. It was comforting to have her so close. A routine he could easily get used to.

After a few hours, both fast asleep and the rest of the beds filled with the other contestants, their bodies did what their heads kept stopping. Sergio’s arm found its way around her waist, pulling her closer to his chest and in return, her hand unconsciously found his on her stomach. And for the rest of the night, the two slept peacefully, spooned together under his blanket in the corner of the room. It was their own cocoon hidden away from the rest of the world.

_**[Cheesy Voiceover]** On the next chapters, who will choose who in the match up ceremonies? Will Suarez leave the bathroom? And we meet some of the contestants exes. You don't want to miss it!_


	4. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow... the response to this fic has been so overwhelming. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has left a comment, kudos, tweet, message or even just took the time to read this crazy story. I truly appreciate all of it. It inspires me to keep writing, and I love when you all leave prompts and ideas in the comments - I'm taking notes!!
> 
> And a big thank you to my Serquel GC who has given me so many great prompts - to come in the future ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next morning, the sun began to invade its way into the room of the 16 sleeping contestants. Only the sounds of the birds chirping outside, heavy breathing, and the achingly loud snores from Helsinki filled the room.

Raquel’s eyes slowly began to open as she was adjusting to consciousness. Instantly, she felt warmth next to her and looked behind her to see Sergio whose arm was casually around her waist while in a deep sleep.

She felt a jolt of affection for the man next to her, and it baffled her how quickly she could feel herself slipping into this confusing place. Was she developing feelings for him? Was it the fact they were trapped in the same place? Was it the game? This setting made her question how real any connection could be but one thing she knew: last night was the best sleep she’s had in a long time. Somehow, this man she’d only met days ago was able to calm her anger and make her feel safe — a feeling that had been foreign to her for years. 

She put her hand over his to remove from her waist in an effort to get out of the bed before the socially awkward “love is for the weak” man next to her realized he had spooned a woman all night. As she attempted to remove it, he unconsciously tightened his hold on her and pulled her closer to his chest.  _ Oh Sergio,  _ she grinned,  _ you’re playing with fire.  _

She began to laugh in response over how surprisingly cuddly he was in his sleep — not expecting him to enjoy anyone in his personal space. The vibrations of her laughter awoke Sergio from his deep sleep. He quickly realized how tightly he was holding the woman next to him, and quickly removed his arm as if burned.

“I’m so sorry,” he stammered while turning on his back, completely mortified. 

Raquel laughed, taking pity over how embarrassed he felt and turned her body to face him. “Don’t be,” she smiled. “This was nice.”

“It was,” he breathed out slowly, eventually smiling with her. He had no idea what overcame him in his sleep to hold her, but he was thankful that he didn’t scare her off. And somehow, he was even more surprised that he wasn’t feeling frightened by the intimacy of this moment. 

Raquel looked around the room to see that everyone was still asleep and knew this was her chance to get out undetected. “I should go before everyone wakes up,” she whispered but made no effort to move.

“That would be a good idea,” Sergio agreed yet also didn’t make any effort to allow her to get out.

She smiled, shaking her head over how ridiculous they were being, “Thank you again for being there for me last night. You’re a great friend.”

There was that word again, Sergio grumbled in his mind. He was really beginning to hate it. “Anytime,” he simply replied.

She looked at him deep in thought for a moment and Sergio began to grow concerned until he realized why. She moved her head to his and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek to put some affection behind her words which were feeling more and more hollow with how often he was there for her during this crazy game.

Blushing slightly, he smiled over how nervous she looked by making such an innocent move, “What was that for?”

“Me saying thank you,” she smiled and inched her body closer to him, feeling herself yearning for more closeness between them. He turned his body to face hers and began to lean towards her as if stuck in a trance.

Was he going to kiss her? She asked herself nervously as his face was slowly getting closer to hers.

Before she could determine what was happening, there was a loud cough in the room, causing both to move away from each other quickly. When the same voice began to snore again, they both sighed in relief not wanting to be caught in a compromising position by the nosey eyes of 14 other people. 

“I should get up now.”

“Of course,” he agreed and stood up to let her leave the bed, unable to take his eyes off her while she left the room. 

Sergio was completely confused over everything that had just transpired between them. He had shared a bed with a few partners in his past, but usually when he woke up his body was partly off the bed in an effort to escape from the person invading his personal space. But this morning… was different.

Somehow, waking up with her in his arms made him feel more alive than getting his PhD. It should have been awkward. He should have wanted to run away; however, his body seemed to take on a whole new personality around her, and he could feel himself losing control. He wanted her. He yearned for her in a way he’d never thought was possible for him. Shit, he could have sworn he was about to kiss her....  _ What was happening to him?  _

* * *

Raquel was in the contestant’s shared closet going through her clothes, choosing what she was going to wear for the day while also gathering her toiletries. While she was gathering what she needed, Monica walked into the room with a concerned expression.

“Morning,” Raquel smiled while placing her things on a small shelf.

“Raquel, what are you doing?” she demanded, getting straight right to the point.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you this morning with Sergio. Agata was so happy he finally danced with her last night, and then I see you leaving his bed?” she questioned, clearly worried over a potential conflict.

“Nothing happened,” Raquel denied, suppressing all she was feeling over what had just happened between them.

“I wasn’t born yesterday,” Monica frowned.

“I’m telling the truth,” Raquel replied. “Suarez was a complete jerk to me last night, and Sergio was there for me as a friend. He was just being a nice guy.”

Monica’s expression quickly changed to one of sympathy for her friend. “What happened with Suarez?”

“He wanted to have sex, and I turned him down,” Raquel rolled her eyes. “And then when I came up to bed, I discovered the son of a bitch peed all over my bed.”

Monica’s eyes widened, “What the fuck is wrong with that guy?!”

“He’s a fucking jerk,” Raquel seethed.

Monica, trying to comprehend this new information, let out a sigh. “But that doesn’t explain why you were in Sergio’s bed…”

“He came upstairs after it happened and offered me a place to sleep. That’s all.”

“And nothing happened between you two?” Monica asked again, not believing it was possible that they both simply slept all night.

“Nothing,” Raquel breathed and then let her body move to sit on the floor in a thump and put her hands on her face. “Oh god, Monica, what am I doing?”

Monica, worried for her conflicted friend, moved to sit next to her. 

“I know how Agata feels about him, and I want to respect that. I do,” Raquel continued. “But…”

“But what?” Monica asked, concerned with how upset Raquel looked next to her.

Realizing she wasn’t ready to voice what she was feeling, Raquel stopped herself and looked at Monica, “Nothing. I’m going crazy…”

“You’re not going crazy,” Monica smiled comfortingly and put her hand on Raquel’s knee. “You can talk to me, Raquel. What you say here stays between us, I promise.”

Raquel saw the honesty in her eyes and was relieved she had someone to talk to about this. “He’s the first person in years that I’ve felt comfortable around,” she confessed. “And I don’t know what that means right now. All I know is that I want to keep getting to know him as a friend…”

“And what about Agata?” She asked.

“I have to talk to her, don’t I?” Raquel pouted, making Monica laugh. 

“You do,” Monica confirmed. “But she has no claim over him. Sergio needs to be the one to make it clear where he stands with her. Your friendships are more important than some silly love triangle.”

“You’re right, but there’s no love triangle,” she denied, “I think he really likes her,” Raquel admitted, resigned, “I saw them dancing yesterday and how he looked with her in his arms.”

“Then you didn’t see what I did,” Monica shook her head incredulously over how blind her friend was.

“What? What did you see?” She asked, confused over the smirk on Monica’s face.

She patted Raquel on the knee and got up, grabbing her bag with all she needed to shower.

“He wasn’t looking at Agata…” she revealed, raising her eyebrows suggestively as she began to make her way out of the room.

“Who was he looking at?” Raquel demanded, confused over how cryptic Monica was being.

Monica shook her head and decided to play with her a bit. At the door, she looked back at Raquel and said, “I think you know the answer…”

Raquel sat on the floor confused. Knew the answer to what? What was she talking about? What was she missing? She was getting ready to ask all of these questions but quickly noticed she was alone.

Monica leaned back in the door to look at Raquel seriously, “No matter what happens, you have an ally in me,” she promised and then left Raquel again.

Raquel, simultaneously happy to have a friend on her side and annoyed by her riddle, decided to stop overthinking and go to the other bathroom to get ready. This game really was the equivalent of getting hit in the head with the football over and over again. 

* * *

Sergio whistled “The Entertainer” while pouring coffee grounds into the coffeemaker, taking in the wonderful smell and enjoying this rare moment of solitude.  Unfortunately, it didn’t last long when he saw Suarez walk into the room looking hungover from the party last night. Good, Sergio thought. He deserved to to feel like shit.

“Morning, man” Suarez greeted and took a seat at the counter.

It took everything in Sergio not to walk up to him and give him a swift punch in the face for what he did to Raquel. What made it even worse was that he didn’t appear to feel any remorse for his repulsive actions.

“Morning,” Sergio grumbled while grabbing a couple of mugs. “Coffee?” he offered.

“Please,” he begged. “You’re my hero right now.”

“No problem.” Sergio grabbed a couple of pills from his pocket that he’d bribed a producer for earlier in the morning and placed them in one of the mugs. “Milk?” he asked  _ with a small side of laxatives (that were just enough to make him uncomfortable without being dangerous) _ ? 

“Yes, thank you,” he smiled. Sergio handed him the mug and smiled when the man in front of him took a sip, “Perfect.”

Sergio smiled awkwardly and stood on the other side of the counter with his own coffee, watching Suarez closely.

"So what did you get up to last night? I didn’t see you much.” Suarez asked while grabbing a croissant from the breakfast platter production had left for them all. 

“I went to bed early,” Sergio admitted truthfully, contemplating confronting him over what he did to Raquel’s bed.

“That’s too bad,” he said. “It was a great party… eventually…’

“What do you mean by eventually?”

Suarez thought about how he’d phrase what he was about to reveal, “Let’s just say… not everyone in this house is a tease,” he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Sergio felt his blood boil over the comment knowing exactly who he was talking about. It was taking every bit of strength not to roll up his sleeves and ask him to follow him to the backyard. 

“I’ve seen you talking to Raquel,” Suarez observed, “but you should know she’s a prude. Not worth your time...”

“That’s it,” Sergio said, slamming his mug on the counter, rolling up his sleeves and adjusting his glasses. 

“What are you doing?” Suarez asked, confused over the sudden outburst.

“I’m getting ready to fight you,” Sergio announced. “Let’s go,” 

“Stop,” Raquel interrupted, walking into the kitchen just in time to witness Sergio getting into the most awkward fight stance she’d ever seen. “No one’s fighting…”

Suarez, still seated and staring at Sergio in disbelief, laughed, “Oh look who’s here…”

Raquel walked over to the sink, filled a glass with water and walked over to Suarez. “Yes, look who’s here,” she repeated while pouring the water over his head.

“What the fuck?!” 

“At least it’s not pee,” she smiled sarcastically.

“This is a dry clean only suit, you bitch…”

“My bad…” She pouted innocently. 

He stood up from his seat, towering her over. Sergio, getting nervous about what he’d do, ran over to stand in front of Raquel, getting in between the two. “That’s enough,” he said authoritatively.

“What? Is this your bodyguard in glasses?” Suarez laughed over the nerdy professor attempting to act tough.

“Get out,” Sergio warned.

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll show you out,” Sergio threatened.

Raquel, losing patience, grabbed Sergio and pushed him to the side. “First of all, I don’t need a bodyguard. And second, Suarez, I’ve been trained to take down men like you for sport. So if you don’t want to get your ass kicked by a woman on TV,” she gestured to the three camera operators surrounded, “I suggest you leave.”

Suarez contemplated his options and realized that getting in a fight with all of these cameras surrounding him wasn’t in his best interest. He sighed angrily, grabbed his coffee mug and stormed out of the kitchen.

After he left, Raquel looked at Sergio and smiled. “Were you really going to fight him?”

“I- well- um- yes..” Sergio admitted awkwardly. “The way he talked about you…it was unacceptable...”

“Oh Sergio…” she smiled gratefully, completely charmed by how angry he was on her behalf.

“And I know you can handle yourself. And I’d never want to suggest you can’t fight your own battles but what he said…”

Raquel grabbed his hand and gave it a soft squeeze, “Thank you.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No,” she smiled. “I guess it’s nice to have a bodyguard in glasses sometimes.” They both laughed together, finding humour over how ridiculous the whole moment was.

While laughing, Monica walked into the kitchen and looked at the two suggestively. Raquel rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her friend, “Hey Monica.”

Everyone else slowly began to make their way into the kitchen to grab coffee and food. After a few minutes of small talk, the entire group was seated around the table - even Suarez who was looking completely miserable in a different suit.

“So...:” Julia started in a rare moment of silence at the table. “Tonight is the match-up ceremony. What are we doing?”

“We got one match last week,” Mari Carmen responded. “Any idea who that was?”

“Easy,” Alicia offered while eating a piece of mango. “Me and Raquel are the match. The rest of you losers can figure it out.”

“Hold on,” Agata stopped her. “I’m pretty sure it was me and Sergio. We make sense together.”

Raquel looked at Sergio as Agata made her case for the two of them. He had no reaction while he spread peanut butter on his toast. Did he agree with her?

“Awww, do you,” Alicia mocked in a baby voice, “Why don’t we ask your librarian if he agrees…”

Sergio fixed his glasses, feeling completely trapped by the stares of 15 others on him, “It’s… um.. It’s a possibility,” he stammered.

“But are you as sure as Agata? Because if we black out, I will pull a Suarez and pee on your bed…”

The whole table turned their attention to Suarez in shock and disgust. Before he had the chance to respond, he felt his stomach turn, “Excuse me,” he responded and ran towards the nearest toilet.

_ Success.  _ Sergio and Raquel shared a look as they took a sip of their coffees to mask their laughs. 

“Suarez is an ass,” Agata grumbled in awe over how anyone could do something so disgusting. “What happened?”

“He didn’t get what he wanted,” Raquel simply responded and needed to get the subject away from this. This was the last thing she wanted to discuss with 14 other people.  “Anyway, Sergio, getting back to the match-ups, are you confident about you and Agata? Because my gut is also telling me that it can be Silene and Anibal.”

Anibal’s face perked up by the comment but Silene shook her head, “I’m not so sure yet, sorry.” She frowned.

Sergio, getting annoyed by the focus on the one correct match, decided this wasn’t the best strategy, “I think we need to move away from who the one match is and choose new people this week.”

“I think we should be choosing based on who we think our matches could be. If you and Agata believe you are a match, why change?” Raquel countered.

“Exactly,” Agata agreed, relieved that Raquel seemed to be on her side finally. She knew they still needed to talk through the tension between them, but this was a start. 

Alicia rolled her eyes, “OR it’s me and Raquel like I said before but you all rudely ignored me…”

Raquel smiled and looked at her friend, “Alicia, I adore you. You know that.” When Alicia smiled in confirmation, she continued, “But in this game, I don’t think we’re a match. You’ve hooked up with more people in here than I’ve been with in the last 8 years…”

“Fine,” she humphed. “But three things - one, you’re wrong; two, you’re still wrong; and three, you need to have more sex.”

“Noted,” Raquel rolled her eyes playfully. “So we’re in agreement? We keep Sergio and Agata the same?”

“Yes!” Agata yelled and Sergio nodded reluctantly. He wanted to make it known he had someone else in mind, but it was too soon to voice it. For now, he’d follow the wishes of the group because, logically, he knew Agata could be his match in the game.

The group continued to discuss different pairings for the match-up ceremony and different scenarios to ensure they didn’t black out and lose €250,000 - and during all of it, Suarez’s match was the toilet he couldn’t seem to leave for longer than a couple of minutes. 

* * *

The group walked onto the match-up stage which included 8 chairs on the right side for the chosen couples to sit on and a platform on the left for all of them to stand on. Andres, smirking, stood in the middle of the stage with two touchscreen devices in front of him ready for the match-up drama to begin. He had reviewed some of the footage this week, and this group was wild. He couldn’t wait to dig in a bit more tonight.

Once the camera crew was happy with the entrance shot, Andres addressed the group reminding them of the rules: they would call on contestants to choose who they think their match is, they will lock in and have a seat. Once everyone is locked in, they will shine a beam of light to signify a perfect match, but the contestants won’t know who. That’s what they had to figure out.

“Let’s begin,” Andres smiled. “Marseille, why don’t you come up and tell us who your perfect match is.”

Mersaille walked up as the group cheered for him, ready to kick off the ceremony. “Hello Andres,” he greeted.

“Forming any connections in the house?” Andres asked. 

“A couple,” he confirmed vaguely.

“Ok then, who is your perfect match tonight?”

Mersaille looked back at the group, smiling, “Raquel.”

_ What?  _ Raquel questioned in shock as she began to walk to the front of the stage to join Marseille. The entire group looked stunned by this selection, especially Sergio who was doing his best to appear neutral. He wouldn’t give the camera operators the satisfaction of reacting to this odd match-up.

“You look shocked,” Andres observed.

“A bit,” Raquel admitted. “We haven’t really spent a lot of time together.”

“I don’t need time to know who my match is. It’s so clearly Raquel,” Mersaille smiled confidently while she looked doubtful.

“Ok then, lock in,” Andres smiled. Once they sat down in their seat, Andres called Sergio next.

“Sergio,” Andres smiled warmly at his brother. “I hear you’ve been making a couple of connections in the house.”

Sergio rolled his eyes in an effort to stop himself from strangling his brother for putting him in this situation just to tease him, “Yes, I’ve been enjoying my time with this group,” he responded diplomatically, surprising everyone. 

“Who’s your perfect match tonight?” Andres asked.

“Agata,” Sergio replied and heard the scream behind him when she ran to the front of the stage with him. 

_ Guilt.  _

He couldn’t stop himself from feeling it, knowing that given the opportunity, he may have chosen differently. But this was a game, and he needed to play it objectively. And, on paper, this made sense. 

“Why do you think this could be a match, Sergio?” Andres asked and Sergio had to fight rolling his eyes again over how much his brother was loving this. 

“Agata is a wonderful person,” Sergio genuinely smiled. “She’s very driven, smart and she’s a lot of fun — something I need a bit more of in my life.” 

Andres stopped himself from nodding profusely - his brother was  _ finally  _ getting it! Oh happy day!

“Awww, isn’t he the sweetest,” Agata cooed, kissing his cheek. Andres, however, quickly saw how uncomfortable his brother was and wondered if this was the person a source told him was capturing his brother’s attention. No, it had to be her. He saw Sergio looking at the first match-up ceremony. The stage and cameras must be making him nervous, Andres concluded.

Raquel was lucky the cameras weren’t on her as she had a hard time hiding how upset she felt over the affection she’d just witnessed between the two of them and the way he believed she could bring fun into his life. How could she have been so stupid to think that maybe-

Sergio and Agata turned to take a seat and Raquel quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind and changed her expression to a smile as the camera panned in her direction.

Alicia was called to the stage next. “So you and Silene found out you weren’t a match this week. How do you feel about that?”

“I already knew,” she smiled. “But who said you needed to be a perfect match to have some fun,” she smirked.

Andres rolled his eyes, “So who is your perfect match tonight?”

Alicia looked back at who was remaining with dread. She really had to choose between these bozos? “Well, Andres, since my first pick was scooped up,” she rolled her eyes looking back at Raquel, “I guess I’ll go with Martin.”

Everyone gasped over how random this pick was, even Andres looked a bit taken aback.

When Martin reached the stage, Andres asked, “Why Martin?”

“We both don’t like most people, so maybe the matchmakers thought we could hate everyone together.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Martin agreed.

“Romantic,” Andres rolled his eyes. “Lock in, you two.”

The next few couples came up to choose their matches, including Daniel and Monica; Silene and Julia; and Angel and Sofia.

When Suarez walked on the stage, Andres was ready to confront him for his poor behaviour in the house. “Suarez, I hear you had quite the night.”

“Uhh, yeah,” he admitted, looking a bit weak.

“You don’t look so well. Are you okay?”

“Yep, fine” he lied but all he wanted to do was get this over with so he could go to bed. “Just a bit of food poisoning today, but it’s better now.”

“That’s too bad. I won’t keep you up here too long,” Andres smirked, “But I have to ask one question,” he paused for dramatic effect, “Why did my producers have to replace a mattress and sheets for one of the other contestants today?”

“Uhh,” he looked completely embarrassed by being called out like this in front of everyone, “I…”

“Did you forget where the toilet was?”

“No…”

“Because we made sure there were six bathrooms in the house for a reason…”

“Right…”

“So when you feel rejected by someone, I suggest keeping your piss off of their personal belongings. If this happens again, you will be asked to leave,” Her informed sternly.

“It won’t happen again,” he promised.

“Good. Now, please apologize to Raquel for your embarrassing behaviour and then we can move on.”

Suarez, knowing he didn’t have a choice, looked back at Raquel, “I’m really sorry, Raquel. I was a complete jerk to you, and it won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” Sergio mumbled under his breath and Agata looked at him, taken aback by his reaction.

“Now that that’s over, who’s your perfect match?” Suarez sighed in relief that he was close to being able to sit again. 

Sergio and Raquel looked at each other, sharing a smile over how terrible he looked. Raquel had to admit this was almost as satisfying as kneeing him in the crotch would have been.

“Mari Carmen,” Suarez confirmed, and the two locked in and took their seats.The camera, however, picked up on how disappointed she was to be selected by him.

This left Helsinki and Anibal who both looked confused over having to lock in as a perfect match. Perhaps having everyone choose who they wanted wasn’t the best way to solve this puzzle, Raquel thought as she looked at how few of the match ups made sense.

Even Andres couldn’t hide the fact he didn’t think they did a good job with their selections this week, but went on with his speech about the 8 beams of light behind him and how each will signify a perfect match. The lights in the studio went down as everyone stared at the front of the stage in anticipation. 

After a few minutes of silence, a blue beam lit up to signify one perfect match. Everyone cheered in relief over not blacking out this week but quickly stopped when the studio lights came back on. 

Only one match.  _ Again. _

They sucked at this.

“What are you doing!?” Andres questioned angrily over the poor results. “You have to play with your hearts. That’s the only way you’ll find your perfect match. Now, go back inside and keep making connections.”

* * *

Everyone walked into the house feeling completely dejected by a second week of poor results. They really needed a better strategy for figuring out matches.

“We suck at this,” Monica groaned.

“We need to get a couple correct in the Truth Booth,” Raquel sighed as everyone took a seat on and around the couch in the living room. “That way we can deconstruct why they are a match and start applying it to other couples. We’re going in blind,” she sighed.

“Raquel’s right,” Sergio agreed and everyone looked shocked that he was agreeing with someone over strategy. “And we need to be strategic about who we pick for dates in the next challenge.”

“This fucking sucks,” Daniel groaned. “It feels like half of this house is playing with their heart and the other half with strategy. How are we ever going to win this?” 

“By not making dumb choices that cause a domino effect,” Alicia said, looking straight at Marsaille. 

“Hey,” he defended himself, “We agreed to choose who we thought our match was, and I did.”

“But have you even really talked to each other?” Sergio asked. “It’s not smart to throw everyone else off like that, especially when you have the first pick.”

“Oh okay, wise guy, if you went first, who would have been your pick?”

Sergio froze for a moment, unsure of how to answer.

“That’s what I thought,” he replied smugly, “None of us know what we’re doing, so stop finding someone to blame because only one of us made a lucky decision tonight.”

Before they could continue, Andres appeared in the room, taking the whole group by surprise. 

“Surprised to see me?” He smirked. “We were thinking about the match ups, and we want to help you all out a bit. Tomorrow, you’re going to go on a couples retreat where you’ll have the opportunity to talk to a relationship coach and get to know each other in a much more intimate setting. How does that sound?”

The house cheered with the exception of Sergio and Raquel who looked at each other, wondering what the catch was.

“Oh, and before I forget, we’ll kick off the retreat by inviting some of your exes to join,” he announced. 

When he saw everyone’s eyes widen, Andres grinned. Oh, this was going to be fun, he laughed. “Have fun tomorrow, get to know each other better, and for god sakes, start making some real connections! Think about what you need and stop going after what you always do.”

With that “bomb”, Andres left the room and the 16 contestants to wonder who they would be seeing tomorrow. 

Sergio, confident he didn’t have a past ex to join, looked around the room to see the look of dread on so many faces. He had a bad feeling about tomorrow.

“They sure do know how to throw a curveball,” Agata laughed bitterly. 

“This is ridiculous,” Raquel uttered angrily, storming out of the room.

Sergio was about to get up but Monica stopped him, “I’ll go,” she reassured him, rushing after her, leaving the rest to talk about who they feared could be joining them tomorrow.

It took her a few minutes to find her, but eventually she saw Raquel curled up on the floor of their large walk-in closet. Seeing how tense her friend was, Monica decided to simply sit next to her in silence until she was ready to talk. 

“I didn’t sign up for this,” Raquel shook her head. “This was supposed to be a stupid game where we worked together to win money…”

“What’s going on, Raquel?” Monica asked, taking her hand in hers to show her comfort.

“No one told me we’d have to face our exes. This is complete bullshit…”

“It is,” she agreed easily. 

“I can’t face him right now…” Raquel cried. “They can’t do this to me. I have a restraining order, and if they decide that doesn’t matter for good TV? What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“What do you mean by a restraining order?” Monica's eyes widened.

“He can’t come within 100 metres of me…”

“I know what a restraining order is.”

“Sorry… he… um… he wasn’t always the kindest man during the last few years of our marriage…”

“Did he...?” Monica asked, her face going white when Raquel nodded. This explained why she was so cautious with her heart. She had been hurt in the most horrific way by someone who had vowed to love her. 

“It’s crazy, right? I’m a cop. I have a gun… and I can’t even fucking take care of myself.”

“It’s not, Raquel. This isn’t your fault…”

“I know,” she whispered. “It took him raising his voice at our daughter one night for me to finally leave him. I got a clear vision of what I would put her through if I stayed any longer…”

“That was really brave of you…”

“Brave… right.”

“You reported him.”

“Not until I signed to come on the show,” she revealed. “I told my mom and sister the truth a year ago, but they didn’t believe me… _‘but he’s soooo charming, Raquel and a cop just like you’_... And if your family doesn’t believe you…”

“Oh Raquel, how couldn’t they?”

“And then a month before we were supposed to start filming, I found out he’d been dating my sister, and I didn’t want her to go through what I did, so I reported him. With no evidence. I became the lying jealous ex-wife who wanted revenge according to everyone in my life.”

“Oh Raquel,” Monica whispered and wrapped her arms around her.

“I can’t face him,” she said with tears streaming down her cheeks, “I’ll leave this show if he comes. I didn’t sign up to be destroyed by this fucking game...My life isn’t entertainment.”

“No, it’s not. Do the producers know about the restraining order?”

“I don’t know,” Raquel admitted sadly, "I didn't know they were planning to do something like this."

Sergio had chosen this moment to walk into the room. He saw Raquel and Monica sitting on the floor hugging, and his heart broke. He remembered her mentioning her ex was an ass, but perhaps there was more to the story.

“Hi,” he greeted awkwardly, interrupting the two women.

Monica smiled up at him and gestured for him to join them on the floor. Once he sat next to Raquel, Monica decided to give them some time,hugging Raquel one last time and leaving the two of them alone.

“Your ex was more than just an ass, wasn’t he?” Sergio whispered, observing the way the woman next to him appeared to be completely broken. She, who usually commanded space with her presence, looked so small.

“Yeah…” she responded through tears, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them to protect herself.

“Come here,” he put his arm around her to encourage her to lean into him. 

As Raquel let her body rest on Sergio’s for comfort, Agata walked into the room with Alicia but stopped when she saw the two together on the floor. He was stroking her hair while her head was on his shoulder. What the fuck…. 

Alicia pulled Agata out of the room before she could start anything, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Agata asked, “Every time I feel like I’m getting somewhere with him, I find him with her,” she complained.

“I’m going to give you some tough love,” Alicia informed her. “Sergio is an idiot.”

“Ok…”

“And as an idiot, he has no idea what he wants or who he wants. YOU have to tell him what he wants,” Alicia informed her. Perhaps this was how she could get that geek away from her match, she reckoned.

“How?”

“You need to make a bold move. He’ll keep dragging his feet like a confused puppy until someone puts a treat in front of his face…”

“A treat?” she asked, completely lost.

“A  _ treat,”  _ she emphasized and pointed at Agata’s body.

“I’m the treat?”

“Bingo!” She cheered while rolling her eyes over how stupid Agata was. “And you’re a fresh treat no one can say no to… not even an old stupid dog like Sergio. And the second you get him panting over you, he’ll never look at anyone again.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“I can’t tell you everything,” Alicia shook her head, annoyed. “But we have a retreat tomorrow in the woods…. It’s the perfect time to dangle a little something in front of his nose.”

“That’s not a bad idea…”

“Of course it’s not. Because here’s the thing, he’s still a man. And that woman in his arms right now isn’t ready to give him what he needs. Trust me - I’ve been trying for weeks.”

“What’s in it for you?” Agata asked.

“Raquel, of course,” She said as if it was the most obvious thing. “I wouldn’t do this just for your happiness. Ew… Who do you think I am? A nice person? Gross,” she mumbled as she walked away offended.

Agata shook her head amused over Alicia pretending she didn't care for anyone and looked back into the room to see Raquel and Sergio breaking apart to stand up. Was Alicia right? Did she simply need to be more bold?

* * *

The next morning, everyone got off a bus deep into a forest in Majorca, arriving at their outdoor oasis for the next two days. There were large luxurious sleeping tents, a place for a bonfire with seating, a dinner tent and many different areas for people to sit and socialize with each other. 

The production team did their best to create a space that would be comfortable, intimate and inviting for everyone. The goal of these two days was to push everyone outside of their comfort zones to get to know contestants they have yet to talk to on a deeper level. 

“Wow,” Agata smiled, taking it all in. “This is amazing!”

Everyone walked up to Andres who was waiting for them with a smile on his face. “Welcome everyone! This is your home for the night. I want you all to take this opportunity to reflect on your past relationships, why they didn’t work and start thinking about what you need from a partner. We have a relationship expert coming tomorrow morning to talk to all of you, but today some of you will get a blast from the past…”

Raquel could feel herself tense over what she feared would come next. Instantly, she felt Sergio’s hand on her lower back for comfort. She smiled at him, touched over how he was able to sense her anxiety.

“Some of your exes will start coming soon,” Andres smiled. “Not all of them could make the trip, so for those who don’t get a visit, I want you to take this time to get to know your fellow contestants. Now, please go enjoy a drink and relax before the fun begins.”

With that, everyone began to disperse - some grabbing a drink from the food tent, others exploring the sleeping arrangements and the rest walking around the perimeter of the camp.

Andres walked up to Raquel and Sergio who hadn’t moved after his speech. He could see that Raquel was visibly upset over what was to come.

“Raquel,” Andres greeted when the cameras were off of them.

“Hi Andres,” She tried to smile, but Andres looked at Sergio who gave him a stern look, warning him to be kind with his eyes.  _ Is my little brother getting protective _ , Andres wondered, amused.

“I talked to the crew, and I wanted to let you know your ex will not be coming. We want this show to be about moving forward for you, and we’d never put you in any danger.” He assured her.

For the first time since last night, Raquel visibly relaxed. “Thank god,” she breathed and ran into his arms to show her appreciation with a hug. “Thank you…”

Andres, standing completely stiff, allowed her to hug him but didn’t return it. “Go relax with the others,” he smiled. She broke the hug, smiled at him and Sergio and then walked towards the dinner tent.

“What was that about?” Andres asked, amused over how protective his brother was.

“What was what about?” Sergio asked, confused.

Andres laughed. His poor brother was in denial, but he saw the way he looked at her, rubbed her back absentmindedly and how protective he was. Perhaps Agata wasn’t the woman who had captured Sergio’s attention as he’d suspected initially. 

“Nothing,” he smiled. “Nothing at all…have fun tonight,” he shook his head, smiling, and walked to the crew who would be taking him back to his hotel. 

Sergio, still mystified over what Andres had been asking, decided to let it go for now and walked over to the others. They were currently in a large circle in the dinner tent, discussing their fears over what was to come.

“I can’t believe some of our exes will be coming,” Monica complained. “I know my jackass of an ex wouldn’t miss an opportunity to humiliate me on TV.”

“I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything,” Daniel reassured while putting his arm around her and Monica instantly lit up in response. 

“They’re cute,” Raquel whispered to Sergio when he walked up to her. “I think they were the perfect match this week…”

“Are you willing to bet one million euros on that?” he asked.

“I would,” she nodded. “But it would mean you and Agata aren’t a match, sorry” she looked up at him sadly.

_ I could have told you that,  _ Sergio wanted to respond but simply chose to nod, “Yeah…”

“Yeah,” she repeated bitterly.

“Someone’s coming!” Agata yelled excitedly. 

The group all rushed to the path the unknown person was walking on in anticipation.

“Whose ex do you think it is?” Silene asked, ready to judge everyone in here for their poor dating choices.

“Please don’t be mine,” Monica groaned.

“It’s a woman!” Agata yelled. 

Sergio rolled his eyes at everyone’s excitement, turning away from the path everyone’s eyes were glued on and shaking his head. He wanted no part of this. 

“She’s beautiful,” Angel commented when she came into view.

“Whose ex is this?” Raquel asked when no one around her appeared familiar with the woman walking towards them.

Sergio turned around and instantly recognized her.  _ Shit. Why was she here? _

“Hello everyone,” she grinned. “I’m Sergio’s ex.”

The entire group looked at her and then back at Sergio in shock, especially Raquel who didn’t know he had been in a serious relationship recently. 

Looking at all of the shocked stares and the woman’s smirk in front of him, he prayed the ground would open up and save him from this. He was going to kill his brother.

_**[cheesy voiceover]** Gasp! Who is Sergio's ex? Who else will we meet? With Agata finally make a bold move? Will Raquel and Sergio ever WAKE UP?_


	5. "Exes"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all of the support on this story - the comments, tweets, messages, kudos. I'm honestly so blown away how many people are enjoying this crazy world. Your reactions keep me inspired to keep writing these chapters so quickly! I'm so appreciative and moved by it. Kisses to all of you.
> 
> And thank you to my Serquel GC for one of the prompts in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy :)
> 
> This chapter all takes place over one night and was STILL too much to cover. I've debated after this story is complete starting a one shot collection of "deleted scenes" to have some fun with some of the moments I gloss over or don't write in the series. Let me know your thoughts on that - but that's still a long ways away since we still have about 10 chapters left to go (eek).

“Hello everyone,” the mystery woman grinned. “I’m Sergio’s ex.”

The entire group looked at her and then back at Sergio in shock, especially Raquel who didn’t know he had been in a serious relationship recently. 

Looking at all of the shocked stares and the woman’s smirk in front of him, he prayed the ground would open up and save him from this. _He was going to kill his brother._

“What’s your name, beautiful?” Suarez smiled, enjoying how uncomfortable this was making Sergio after their near fight yesterday. 

“Tatiana,” she smirked, not taking her eyes off Sergio who was looking like he was close to combusting in rage.

“How long did you date?” Agata asked curiously.

“A few years,” she revealed.

“Oh fuck,” Alicia whispered to Raquel, looking at this woman up and down and noting their similarities in appearance. “I’m his type?!”

Raquel laughed, shaking her head, relieved to be able to find some humour in this situation. Looking at the young, beautiful woman whose smile made the sun shine brighter was bringing out some of her insecurities. Perhaps she was right. The connection between her and Sergio was strictly friendship and he had a different woman in mind romantically.

“How about we talk?” Sergio finally spoke up, going up to Tatiana and gesturing to a couple of chairs on the other side of the grounds. Once they were alone, his expression hardened. “Why are you here?”

“Because our relationship was so special…” she responded coyly. 

“Cut the shit.”

“Andres wanted me to see how you were doing in here,” she revealed seriously. “He thought it may help to see a familiar face.”

“So he sent in his ex wife?” Sergio asked incredulously, running his hands through his hair.

“And he didn’t want people to think you were SO pathetic you couldn’t get a hot girlfriend,” she laughed. “Go with this, I already saw a couple of jealous looks from a few women… this could be good for you.”

“I don’t want to play these games,” Sergio denied. “I can’t believe my brother would do this…”

“So tell me,” she commented while watching everyone staring at them from across the retreat grounds in curiosity. “Which one has your eye?”

“You know I’m not here for that,” Sergio denied, shaking his head.

She looked more closely to see the cold stare from one of the women with dark hair and striking features, “I think you’re lying. Someone looks like she’s ready to strangle me…”

Sergio couldn’t help but look up to see Agata looking at the two of them intensely. _Great,_ he sighed. “That’s Agata,” he revealed. 

“She’s gorgeous! Is there anything there?”

“She thinks we’re a perfect match…”

“Ahh,” she smiled but heard the reluctance in his tone, “but you don’t?”

“I think it’s possible, but…” and his eyes, out of their own control, went to Raquel who was currently talking to Alicia. _Did she look upset?_

Tatiana followed his stare and it clicked. Sergio was in the middle of a love triangle. Her adorkable ex brother in law who swore off romantic relationships was now caught in between two beautiful women. This was going to be fun…

“You do have a type,” she joked, assuming he was looking at Alicia. “You definitely have good taste…”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The redhead over there. She’s the ‘other woman’, right?”

Sergio looked disgusted by the thought. “What would make you think that?”

“You were looking right at her,” she responded and then saw the other shorter woman next to her with golden brown hair who seemed to look a bit defeated. “Oh…”

“Oh.. what?”

“Nothing,” she smiled, turning her attention back to Sergio. Was she seeing the unthinkable happen? Was Sergio Marquina falling for someone? 

Before she could get more information, Martin walked over laughing at the situation. “Andres is a genius,” he grinned triumphantly, “Good to see you again, Tatiana,” he greeted by hugging her and giving her kisses on each cheek.

“Did you know?” Sergio asked, losing patience over this whole situation.

“No, this was ALL your brother,” he laughed. “I didn’t think he had it in him…”

“So who’s the woman who has my dear ex brother in law so love sick?” She asked while watching Raquel enter one of the tents with a blonde woman.

“Agata?” Martin smirked, causing Sergio to roll his eyes. 

“That’s the one with the golden brown hair?” She confirmed.

“Oh, you mean Raquel…” he smirked, looking straight at Sergio. “I think he likes her…”

“I don’t-” Sergio denied, standing up in an attempt to leave the two. “She’s a friend…”

“Sit down,” Martin commanded and then turned to Tatiana, “He’s in denial.”

“I’m not-” he grumbled while getting back in his seat defeated. He was reminded of their dynamic from years ago when the two of them and Andres would constantly tease him.

“So what’s your story?” Martin asked. “Everyone will want to know about your relationship…”

“Andres gave me a script,” she revealed. “We dated for a few years but Sergio was so cold and distant that I eventually left him.”

“That sounds like all of his relationships.”

“Why are you guys doing this to me?” he asked with his face in his hands.

“How did you meet?” Martin smirked, ignoring Sergio’s discomfort.

“Through his brother, of course,” she grinned playfully. “It was a blind date and love at first sight, wasn’t it snookums?”

“Get me out of here,” he shook his head in disbelief. How could he have missed that his brother would use this episode to completely fuck with him?

**/ /**

Raquel sat in one of the sleeping tents in an attempt to create a bit of distance from the rest as she processed this new bit of information. Sergio had an ex girlfriend. A beautiful woman who was the type to turn heads just by entering a room. Who wore the latest fashions. And could charm anyone with one smile. How was that possible by the way he regarded romantic relationships? Perhaps she was the one who broke his heart and made him appear colder and more adverse to love than he actually was...

“Hey Raquel,” Monica smiled, following her into the tent and taking a seat next to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m great,” she smiled, attempting to erase all of her discomfort. “Alberto isn’t coming and I get to relax…”

“So Sergio’s ex doesn’t bother you at all?”

“Why would I be bothered?” she asked, doing her best to appear confused.

Monica looked at her in disbelief. Was she really going to act like this? “You tell me…”

Before they could continue, Alicia stumbled into the tent with three flutes of champagne. “Look what I got, ladies!” 

Raquel took one from her, smiling, and downed it in one gulp in an attempt to dull all of the emotion she was feeling.

“Someone’s ready to party,” Alicia laughed while handing the other to Monica and taking a sip of her own. “So Sergio’s ex…”

“What about her?” Raquel asked, wishing they could change the topic to anything but this.

“Am I his perfect match?” Alicia whined, “I came here to get away from the nerds and then I see the biggest nerd in here has an ex who looks just like me. How did that even happen?”

Raquel laughed over her friend’s worries, putting a hand on her knee in comfort, “I think you’re safe…”

“I hope so. He’s… so awkward and she’s a 10..” Alicia continued and then added, “Obviously,” gesturing to herself. 

“How do you think they met?” Monica wondered.

“What if she was one of his students?” Alicia suggested and then smirked. “Oh, that makes so much sense. She was the smartest in the class, he was the intelligent and nerdy professor, they bonded over some boring philosopher and suddenly she woke up in his bed! Oh the scandal…”

Raquel shook her head, “We don’t know that…” she sighed.

“Awww, you don’t like seeing your nerdy ‘friend’ in this new light?” she asked with fake sympathy. “I supposed he never told you about his ex and you’re finally seeing him for the jerk he is…”

“Alicia!” Monica stopped her. “We don’t know anything…”

“Maybe she’s right,” Raquel sighed, “He’s barely told me anything about his life. It’s possible I completely misjudged him… it wouldn’t be the first time,” she said sadly.

“ANOTHER EX IS HERE!” they heard Daniel yell and ran out of the tent.

“Oh no,” Monica said in dread when she saw who was walking towards them. “No no no no no.”

“What’s wrong?” Raquel asked, concerned over the look of dread in her friend’s eyes.

“Remember how I said I only got into relationships with married men and women? One of them is walking towards us…”

“Oh,” Raquel responded, curious as to why a married man would go on TV for his mistress.

“Arturito,” Monica grimaced when he approached them, “What are you doing here?”

“I left my wife, and I’m here to get you back,” he smiled arrogantly. “Hello everyone,” he smirked at everyone who was staring at him in shock and curiosity. 

“Then go back now because I want nothing to do with you,” she told him but he simply laughed in response.

“I’ve got a few hours to convince you,” he nodded, “Now, I was told there was an open bar.”

**/ /**

Agata walked up to Sergio, Martin and Tatiana as confidently as possible. Truthfully, she could feel herself growing a bit insecure looking at Sergio’s ex. She was gorgeous.

“Hello,” she greeted nervously.

Martin, not wanting it to be revealed how well he knew Sergio, made an excuse and walked over to the group in the party tent. 

“Hi Agata,” Sergio greeted, dreading the conversation he knew was about to unfold.

“Hello,” Tatiana grinned, loving how uncomfortable this was making Sergio.

Agata took the seat that Martin left vacant and stared at the two for a moment in an attempt to gain more confidence, “So, you’re Sergio’s ex?”

“I am,” she nodded and Sergio fought every instinct he had to roll his eyes and reveal the truth.

“How did you meet?” she asked.

“His brother set us up on a blind date. He thought we would hit it off and boy was he right…” she grinned playfully. 

“And you were together for a few years?” she confirmed.

“Yes, three years,” she confirmed while Sergio looked away, hating all of the lies coming from her mouth. 

“Wow…” Agata responded, “So it was pretty serious.”

“Very, wasn’t it darling?” She looked at Sergio in an effort to have him contribute.

“Uh…. I guess you could say that,” he grumbled while looking at Tatiana.

“Did you ever talk about marriage?” Agata asked…

“There was some wedding talk while we were together,” Tatiana grinned slyly, referring to her and Andres’ wedding, but this woman didn’t need to know that.

“Why did you break up?” Agata asked, confused over how good the rapport seemed to be between them.

“It’s Sergio… he spent more time in his classroom than with me, and I made a pretty big mistake…”

Sergio’s eyes widened. This wasn’t the script she had revealed to him and Martin previously.

“What happened?”

Tatiana frowned in an attempt to look remorseful, “I slept with his brother…”

 _Oh for fucks sake,_ Sergio groaned. He could feel a headache coming on.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, it was awful,” She continued. “I was upset over how cold and distant he was getting, and his brother was there for me, and it just happened. I really regret it,” she pouted while Sergio looked like he was ready to throw a chair at a tree.

“Wow, so that’s why he’s so closed off to love now?” Agata asked, referring back to their conversation during the speed date.

“It is,” she frowned regretfully, “I really hurt him. He told me that he’d never love again…”

Sergio put his hands over his face to shield how annoyed he was by this whole act she was playing. How could his brother do this to him? Wasn’t simply living in this house enough?

“Oh Sergio,” Agata looked at him sympathetically. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 _Because I didn’t know,_ he seethed but chose to simply respond with, “I didn’t think it was relevant…”

“Oh…” she responded sadly.

“Don’t worry, Agata. He’s not very good at expressing himself but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care…trust me.”

“Excuse me,” Sergio grumbled, completely done with this conversation.

Agata watched him walk away and looked back at Tatiana who seemed to be amused over how upset Sergio was. “Any advice on how I can get him to move forward with me?”

Tatiana smiled, loving that she was getting to him. “Plenty…” she began.

**/ /**

Sergio walked straight to the party tent and poured himself a tall glass of scotch with a touch of water. If he couldn’t physically escape from this hell then at least he could numb all of his emotions enough to get through the next couple of hours.

“Are you okay?” he heard a familiar voice ask behind him.

“Never better,” he responded, taking a large sip of his drink and finding comfort in the burn from his throat to his lungs.

“Sergio…” 

He turned around to see Raquel looking at them with those beautiful expressive eyes and instantly felt comforted by her presence. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I wasn’t expecting this,” he admitted truthfully.

“It’s never easy to be confronted by our past,” she replied, “Do you want to talk about it? You’ve always been there for me…”

Sergio, knowing he wasn’t able to reveal what the actual issue was, did his best to word it in a way that was vague without being a complete lie, “I wasn’t expecting to ever see her again…”

“Ah,” she understood. He was so affected because this woman really meant something to him. “So this is why you aren’t looking for love here,” she confirmed to herself.

“What?” He questioned, surprised and confused by her response.

“She’s really beautiful,” Raquel smiled. “I hope you can both work it out…”

“What? No, that’s not-” he began to deny but she walked away before he could get it out, leaving him to take another large sip of his drink. He was very close to walking out on this show altogether…

**/ /**

Feeling defeated, Raquel walked over to one of the hammocks to see Silene laying in one looking about as happy as she currently felt.

“Got room for one more?” Raquel asked sadly.

Silene gestured to the other side of the hammock, inviting Raquel to join her. When she took a seat on the opposite side, resting her feet next to the younger woman as she adjusted her position to make room for her.

“I don’t know what’s worse….” Silene started, “Having an ex here or having to watch people you care about reconnecting with theirs,” she commented bitterly.

“Who else is here?” Raquel asked, missing the entrance of the past few people as she was trying her best not to spy on the conversation between Sergio, Tatiana and Agata.

“Alicia’s ex, German, came and the two have been hugging for the past twenty minutes,” she responded, “And Anibal’s high school ex is here - Alison Parker,” she said the name bitterly.

Raquel looked at Alicia who appeared to be having an emotional reunion with her ex who almost looked like a blond version of Sergio. Maybe she had been right, she mused, they may be perfect matches after all. How hilarious would that be.

“Where’s Anibal?”

“They went into one of the tents for ‘privacy’”, she rolled her eyes

And there it was, Raquel realized. Silene was jealous and feeling threatened by his past. Her real feelings were finally starting to show.

“He’s in love with you,” Raquel reassured her. 

Silene’s eyes widened, ready to deny what Raquel was implying. 

“Don’t bother denying you’re jealous,” Raquel laughed over how shocked Silene looked.

“And what about you?” She retaliated, not liking being put in a place where she had to address her confusing feelings.

“What about me?”

“As if you’re not jealous right now…”

“Jealous of what?” Raquel asked. “I think it’s great to see Alicia so happy with her ex. I didn’t know she was capable of feeling emotion...”

“Not Alicia,” she shook her head, amused over how well she plays dumb. “Sergio.”

“Sergio?” Raquel questioned, taken aback.

“Don’t pretend that Tatiana chick doesn’t make you want to go find your gun and shoot it at some trees…” She shook her head, laughing bitterly.

“I’m not jealous…”

"Of course not,” Silene teased.

“I’m not!” Raquel denied again. “I feel bad that Agata is so into him while he’s clearly still in love with his ex…”

“Raquel… you are not this stupid…”

“Excuse me?”

“Sergio has been in despair since she’s been here, and she’s been loving it. Do you know what I think?”

“I’m scared to hear it…”

“I don’t think she’s actually his ex. He said his brother forced him on the show by cheating on a bet. What if he’s messing with Sergio by bringing in a fake ex?”

“That’s crazy,” Raquel responded while looking at Sergio who was taking the last few sips of his drink, appearing like he was wishing to be anywhere but next to Agata and Tatiana talking. “Isn’t it?”

“Maybe… but so is forcing your love stupid brother on a show like this…” She pointed out.

“No, no one would do that to their family,” Raquel denied.

“Talk to her then,” Silene suggested. “You’ve gotten to know him a bit in here. And you can also sniff out when someone is lying. I bet you could call bullshit on everything after one conversation…”

“We’ll see…” She responded and looked back at Silene whose eyes were following Anibal’s and his ex’s every move while they walked from one of the tents to the bar.

“Finally ready to admit you have feelings for the kid?” She asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Finally ready to admit you have feelings for Sergio?”

They both stared at each other for a moment, daring the other to give in and admit what they were feeling in their hearts, yet both women were too stubborn.

“You know what would be more fun? If we take all this energy and fuck each other’s brains out right now,” Silene suggested, raising her eyebrows.

Raquel laughed in response; only Silene would turn a tense moment into something so crude. 

“Is that a yes?”

“No,” Raquel responded and the two went back to staring at the respective people they both refused to admit they were developing feelings for.

* * *

After a few hours and a few new exes showing up, everyone was struggling with either being confronted by their pasts or watching someone they like having to face theirs. The atmosphere was tense.

Anibal and Alison Parker were sitting by the newly lit bonfire laughing over past memories much to Silene’s disappointment.

Daniel and Arturito were currently in an argument with Monica attempting to play referee.

Alicia and German were sitting in one of the tents in a deep discussion over their past.

Mari Carmen’s ex, Tamayo, was currently losing his mind at a fly buzzing around his face as Angel and Mersailles were watching, amused by the man’s short fuse.

And then there was Sergio and Tatiana who were still talking in their own corner of the lawn with Martin who had just returned with new drinks for the three. Raquel wasn’t sure, but by the way Sergio was slouching in his seat, she guessed he was growing more and more inebriated.

When one of the producers announced that they would be bringing in a DJ soon with more drinks and food, most of the contestants cheered at the prospect of having another party.

Raquel sat back in the hammock annoyed that the producers kept pushing them to drink and make bad decisions to increase the amount of drama. When she signed on to this show, she had no idea it would be this.

“Raquel!” She heard Alicia calling her from a few metres away. When she waved to the other woman, Alicia quickly ran over as German left the grounds.

She could see the conflict in her friend’s face over seeing her ex again.

Raquel moved over, making room in the hammock, for Alicia to sit on the opposite side. “How are you doing?” she asked, sympathetically. She could tell that Alicia had just wiped away a few fresh tears.

“Embarrassed that the camera operators caught me crying. I told them to fuck off but I guess we all signed our lives away…”

“What happened with German?” She asked directly, ignoring her worries about the cameras. She knew it was a front. “I’ve never seen you like this before…”

“He was the love of my life,” she admitted bitterly. “We got together after a conference a few years ago, and we had it all planned out. Wedding, house, kids… all that boring shit I thought I hated.”

“What happened?”

“He got a job offer he couldn’t say no to in Panama. And my life is here. So we ended it.”

Raquel took her hand in hers, squeezing it tightly, “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t need your pity,” she huffed. “That’s just life…”

“Did he come all the way from Panama?”

“Yeah…” she sighed, “When he heard I was coming on this show, he got scared I’d move on.”

“That was a really big gesture to come back.”

“He says he’s moving back to Madrid, but I told him I’m not ready to go back to what we had, you know?”

“It’s a start though,” Raquel smiled at her friend. She finally understood why she was so guarded with her feelings in this game. Her heart hadn’t yet healed.

“It is, but I told him that I wanted to keep having my fun here and that maybe when this was over, we can talk again,” she admitted while playing with a loose thread in the hammock. “Do you think that was the right decision?”

Raquel, completely moved by the fact that Alicia was showing her vulnerable side, responded, “I do, it’s not easy to jump back into something even when you still love the person.”

“And where was this a year ago?” Alicia asked, annoyed by the timing. “I was finally in a place where I could sleep with people without feeling guilty and then he shows up…”

“Hey,” Raquel grabbed her hand again, “None of this needs to be figured out tonight. If he’s making an effort, great, but he made that decision on his own. You deserve some time to get there too…”

Alicia smiled gratefully, “That’s true, thank you Raquel. And if you tell anyone in here I cried today or was a whiny bitch, I will have no choice but to pee on your bed.”

Raquel laughed, “Can we never talk about that again?”

“So now that I’ve told you my tragic love story… do I finally get that kiss you’ve been teasing me with?” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“Alicia,” Raquel warned playfully. “How about a hug instead?”

“I’ll take it, but you know I won’t stop trying, right?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she laughed, wrapping her arms around Alicia’s waist and squeezing her body into hers.

Alicia, observing a few contestants from afar, commented “I think your professor is drunk.” 

Raquel ended the hug, turning her body to look at Sergio with Tatiana and Martin. He was stumbling to walk as the three were making their way to the party tent. 

“Oh no,” Raquel laughed.

“Maybe he’ll finally get that stick out of his ass and have some fun,” she said while standing up. “I’m going to head over to the dance floor; do you want to join me?”

“Not yet, I’m enjoying the peace and quiet right now,” she replied, watching Alicia walk away.

**/ /**

Sergio stood with Martin and Tatiana at the bar, sipping on a new glass of scotch. He felt completely numbed by the alcohol and could feel his body swaying to a Diplo mix. When had that happened, he wondered.

“Wanna dance?” Agata asked, coming up to him, happy to see Sergio finally allowing himself to have a good time.

Sergio, who was losing many of his inhibitions, quickly agreed and joined her on the dance floor with Julia, Sofia, Helsinki and Marseille. Tatiana and Martin stayed back laughing over how uncoordinated his dance moves were.

“He’s going to regret this tomorrow,” Martin laughed.

“For a couple of reasons,” Tatiana observed when she saw Raquel walk into the tent just in time to see Sergio dancing around wildly with Agata. “Excuse me,” she said and walked over to the petite woman who was struggling to hide how affected she was by the scene in front of her.

“Raquel, right?” Tatiana greeted.

“Yes,” she confirmed apprehensively, “How’s it going, Tatiana?”

“Good,” she smiled and then laughed when Sergio almost bumped into Angel on the dance floor. He was getting messy. “Not as good as Sergio…”

“It’s nice to see him having fun,” Raquel admitted honestly. “He needs someone to bring that out of him.”

“Or just a lot of scotch,” Tatiana laughed. “Do you want to go by the fire and talk?”

“Why?” Raquel asked, confused over the interest in her.

“Sergio mentioned you were a friend in here, and I’d love to get to know you better,” She lied… she was mostly interested in getting to know the woman Sergio seemed to be in denial over her.

“Sure, let me grab a glass of wine, and I’ll be there in a second,” Raquel smiled tensely and went deeper into the tent, trying to keep her eyes off of Sergio and Agata who seemed to be dancing a lot closer now. Stop it, Raquel, this is good for him.

When she made her way to the bonfire, she took a seat next to Tatiana, thankful to be away from the noise for a bit. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to know how he’s doing in here? I know this is his worst nightmare…” Tatiana asked.

“As fine as he could be,” Raquel admitted. “He hates all of the challenges and the getting to know people part, but I think he’s grown a lot from the person who walked through the door two weeks ago…”

“That’s really great to hear,” Tatiana smiled. 

“Now, I have a question for you,” Raquel leaned forward, thinking about what Silene told her earlier. Was she really his ex? “Why did you decide to come here?”

Tatiana looked away for a second, getting intimidated by Raquel’s stare. “I wanted to see how he was doing. When his brother told me he was doing this show, I almost fell on the floor in shock.”

“And you were together for three years?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“Why did you both end it?” Raquel asked. She could feel the impulse to find a pencil and tie her hair up as if she was interrogating a suspect.

“You know Sergio, more focused on his academic aspirations than having a relationship. He stopped making time for me…” she attempted to say as truthfully as possible.

“Interesting. And he was like that for three years? Or just near the end?”

“It got worse with time,” She responded, nervously. Why did it feel like she was being interrogated?

Raquel watched her closely, the way her fingers tapped on her chair, the licking of her lips, her eyes looking anywhere but at her. Was Silene right? Was she lying? She was showing all of the signs. “What attracted you and Sergio to each other?”

Tatiana, taken aback for a moment, took a deep breath as she thought about how to answer this, “He’s extremely smart,” she began honestly, “And good looking, successful, and very kind. It wasn’t hard to be attracted to him. And why he was attracted to me? You’d have to ask him. We really clicked when we were together.”

“Are you here to get him back?”

Tatiana nearly spit out her wine, “No, not at all.”

“So, it’s just to be on TV?”

“No, like I said before, I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“Ok,” Raquel simply responded and sat back in her chair, taking a sip of her wine. “Because to me, it looks like you’re messing with him…”

“A bit,” she admitted smiling. “What kind of ex would I be if I didn’t like making him uncomfortable?”

 _Not a very good one,_ Raquel thought. There was no way Sergio spent three years with this woman. He’d have been bored intellectually after one date let alone a three year relationship. 

“My turn to ask a question,” Tatiana smiled. “Do you have feelings for Sergio? Because I’ll warn you now he’s terrible at relationships. He’s not attentive, he doesn’t take the time to care for anyone, and he has a hard time expressing affection.”

Raquel thought back to a few of her moments with him that proved all of those statements false, showing her that when Sergio cared for someone whether romantically or platonically, he was all of those things. Tatiana either didn’t know him intimately or their relationship was very surface level.

“No,” Raquel shook her head, denying the thumping she felt in her chest. “He’s been a great friend to me in here, but that’s all it’s been,” she sighed bitterly, flashes of Sergio and Agata dancing and laughing together flooding her mind.

Tatiana could tell she was in denial just like her poor ex brother in law. What was it going to take for these two to be honest with themselves?

**/ /**

Sergio, after a few songs, stumbled off the dance floor looking around the tent to see who was around and who was missing. He’d never admit it, but his eyes were clearly scanning the tent for a specific person who he was disappointed was nowhere to be found.

When he noticed that Tatiana was also missing, he walked outside to make sure she wasn’t causing any more trouble. He stopped breathing for a second when he saw her sitting by the bonfire with Raquel. _Oh shit._

Before he could begin his attempt to get to them, Agata put her arms around his waist from behind, “Hey, do you want to get out of here and have our own afterparty?”

“Uhhh…” Sergio stumbled.

She walked around to face him and grabbed his hands to lead him to a dark corner away from the prying eyes of the rest of the group. “We’ve been ignoring this tension for days,” she whispered.

 _What tension,_ Sergio asked himself as his drunken mind was trying to catch up with what was happening.

“Tension?” he asked dumbly.

“Sexual,” she whispered in his ear and began leaning in to kiss him.

 _Alert! Alert!_ Sergio’s mind yelled in his head in an effort to sober him up. He pushed her away from him gently. “Agata,” he said firmly, “We can’t do this.”

“Why not?” She asked, seductively while putting her hands on his hips to bring him closer to her again.

_Think, Sergio. This is what you do. You think all the time. So why in this moment is your mind going blank? Tell her no…_

“I-” he began but was interrupted by Raquel walking by them with her empty wine glass. He looked down to see Agata holding him close, appearing like they were about to… _oh no._

“Excuse me,” She said in almost a whisper as she walked by them, but Sergio could hear something in her tone. Sadness?

“Yes, excuse you,” Agata said rudely, “Can’t you see you’re interrupting an intimate moment?”

_A what?! Sergio thought. No, no, no, This wasn’t happening. He had to stop this, but why couldn’t his mind and mouth sync up?_

Raquel, taken aback by her attitude, stopped, “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sardonically, “Do you need any tips?”

“No,” Agata barked back, pulling Sergio closer to her in an attempt to mark her territory.

Sergio, still working on getting his mind to reboot, stood in silence as the two women stared at each other intensely. He had to stop this. How did he stop this?

Raquel finally looked away unable to stand the sight in front of her. The last thing she wanted was for her vulnerability to be exposed by these people who were supposed to be her friends. She shook her head in an attempt to hide how hurt she felt over Agata treating her like a nuisance while Sergio stood there in silence.

“Have fun,” she mumbled, storming inside the tent and away from the couple to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.

Sergio, who finally felt his brain click watching her walk away, turned to Agata, taking her hands off of him and putting space between them again, “This isn’t going to happen,” he informed her firmly.

“But I thought you wanted this…”

He sighed, knowing what he was about to say would hurt her. And perhaps it was the increased confidence due to all of the scotch in his system but he couldn’t keep leading her on like this. It wasn’t fair to Agata or him. It was time to be direct with his feelings, “No, I don’t.”

“Oh,” she looked down sadly.

“You’re an amazing woman,” he smiled sadly, “And you’re going to make someone so happy one day, but...I have to be honest with you. I’m not that someone.”

“You’re right, I am amazing,” she smiled sadly. “But why not?

“You are,” he agreed easily. “You’re strong, independent, beautiful, funny… but I don’t feel that same romantic connection with you. I’m so sorry. I can see us being great friends. And I really want that, but it can’t be more than that.”

“Is it because of Raquel?” She asked, her own insecurities starting to show.

“Raquel?” He questioned dumbly.

“You’re breaking my heart right now,” she smiled through tears, “In the sweetest way… but I think I deserve the truth.”

Sergio saw how upset she was and agreed; he did owe her the truth, “It’s not because of Raquel. That would be disrespectful to her. She’s not the reason we’re not together. I’m the reason”

“Ok…” she sighed sadly.

“But...she’s someone who I want to keep getting to know,” he told her honestly. “And I don’t want her to feel guilty for that…nor do I want to get in between your friendship.”

“I get it,” she nodded sadly, getting his point now. This is what he meant by that confusing orchestra talk. She was the wind instruments trying to get in front of the violins. _Oh Agata, you’re an idiot._ “I think I was so convinced you were my match because I wanted it so badly that I forgot the part where the connection needed to be mutual.”

“There’s someone in here for you,” He smiled comfortingly. “And I’m here as a friend.”

“I know,” nodded in agreement again, “I went back to my old patterns of chasing what I thought I wanted and ignoring how the other person felt. Can you forgive me for making you feel so uncomfortable?”

“Of course,” Sergio smiled, grabbing her hand “Can you forgive me for leading you on for the last couple of weeks?”

“Yes, we were both reverting to old habits” she admitted sadly, finally seeing clearly for the first time in weeks what he already knew, “I guess that means we aren’t a perfect match afterall.”

“I don’t think so,” he confirmed sadly.

She looked up at him to see the regret and sadness in his eyes. She could tell it was hurting him to be so honest with her, but she had to admit she was thankful for it, “Thanks for the sweetest rejection ever,” she smiled through tears, “I think I’m going to go sit by the fire for a bit… and maybe you should find Raquel before she thinks…”

_Oh shit, Raquel thought they were…_

She pulled him in for one last hug and then walked away, leaving him to face the one person he feared hurting the most. When he saw how upset she looked when Agata told her to go away, it nearly broke him. It was what snapped him out of his drunken confusion.

When he walked into the party tent, he saw some people dancing, a few couples making out, Monica arguing with a stocky man who looked like he was enjoying it too much, and Raquel sitting by the bar staring at her drink sadly. His heart broke over how miserable she looked, fearing he was the cause of it. He wasn’t sure if it was the scotch or watching Tatiana try to make a fool out of him all day, but he felt like he was seeing everything so clearly for the first time. 

When the song changed to a new upbeat track by Avicii, Martin and Tatiana encouraged him to join them, but he shook his head and walked over to Raquel determinedly. 

“Can you pass me one of those?” He asked, gesturing to a glass of scotch.

“Haven’t you had enough?” Raquel questioned bitterly as she passed him the glass roughly, causing some of the contents to spill on his hand when he took it from her. _He really fucked up._

“What’s one more,” he smiled drunkenly, taking a sip while wiping his hand on his pants. He sat in the chair next to her and watched the rest of the group partying.

After a few minutes of growing more and more annoyed by his silence, Raquel asked, “Isn’t Agata waiting for you?” 

“No,” he replied honestly while taking another sip of his scotch.

“I didn’t realize you were that fast,” she commented bitterly.

_She thought…. Oh boy, Sergio, don’t let her think you’re the two second man on top of everything._

“No,” he coughed, “We didn’t…”

“Oh..” she sighed, taking another sip of her drink to avoid how awkward this moment was. 

“I told her no,” he finally revealed, causing Raquel to turn her head to look at him for the first time. 

“Why? She’s beautiful and may be your perfect match,” she attempted to say without sounding completely miserable.

Sergio shook his head in an effort to assure her that she had nothing to worry about. He then looked at the laughter on the dance floor and back to the stoic woman next to him and got an idea. 

“Dance with me,” he grinned as _Wake Me Up_ by Avicii began to play. The alcohol in his system was bringing out a completely different side of him.

“What?” She had no time to question him as he took her wine glass out of her hand, placing it on the table next to his. He took her hands in his, pulling her up from her seat and close to him.

“Come on,” he smiled drunkenly as the two made their way to the dance floor. 

“You’re crazy,” she laughed as his hips remained still while his arms flopped around like one of those car dealership dancing inflatable ads that flowed with the wind. “You need to move your hips,” she instructed by putting her hands on his hips in an attempt to help them move to the beat.

Sergio couldn’t help but feel the heat course through his body when her hands gripped his hips but did his best to ignore those feelings. Now wasn’t the time to come on too strong.

“Better,” she grinned while, for the first time since they got to this ‘retreat’, allowing herself to let go of her anxiety and get lost in the beat.

“There’s that smile,” he beamed proudly, putting his arms around her waist to bring her body closer to his.

She followed his lead by placing her arms around his neck as the two of them swayed drunkenly to the music, laughing every time Sergio mistepped. It was the first moment of real freedom between the two. They forgot about the cameras, the people around them and all of their inhibitions. They were having fun, and it was a beautiful sight for everyone around them who watched the two dance in their own bubble in awe - the feelings they had been holding back no longer preventing them from enjoying each other’s company.

Martin, from the other side of the dance floor with Tatiana, gestured for her to look at the pair laughing together, “Look at our Sergio,” he smiled proudly. “I’ve never seen him like this before…”

“Me neither...” Tatiana responded in shock. At her wedding, it had taken hours of coaxing for Sergio to join everyone on the dance floor. She looked at the smaller woman in his arms who seemed to let go of the intensity she’d experienced earlier with her. They seemed to bring out something unique in each other - fun. Something Sergio had always frowned upon and something she suspected Raquel hadn’t let herself experience for years.

“She’s exactly what he needs,” Martin smiled confidently. “And I think you being here helped push them together.”

“Then I guess my work here is done,” she smiled. “I’m going to go say goodbye,” she announced and walked over to Sergio and Raquel who were still dancing in each other's arms, but this time, Raquel was turned away from him with his arm loosely around her waist as they swayed to the beat: a position Tatiana never thought she’d see Sergio in with someone else.

When he saw Tatiana approach, he could feel the woman in his arms tense slightly. He held on tighter in response to stop her from moving away from him. 

“I’m heading out,” Tatiana informed the two, yelling over the music.

“Ok,” Sergio smiled drunkenly, hugging her with the arm that wasn’t securely wrapped around Raquel.

“It’s about time,” She whispered in his ear, grinning.

“Time for what?” Sergio asked drunkenly, missing her point completely.

“That the professor found someone who could thaw the ice frozen around his heart,” She smiled. “Andres will be ecstatic.”

Sergio looked down at Raquel who was watching the two closely but couldn’t hear their whispers. Sergio thought she looked so cute with her forehead crinkled in confusion.

“Can you maybe… not tell him yet?” He whispered in fear of his brother doing something to jeopardize this new and fragile connection he felt with Raquel.

“Fine, I’ll keep quiet for now,” she smiled, genuinely happy to see that he wasn’t living in complete denial anymore. She imagined the scotch was helping with that, but it didn’t take an expert to see the chemistry between these two. She only wished they could see it too - without large amounts of alcohol lowering the walls around their hearts.

“Follow me,” Sergio whispered once Tatiana had left, taking Raquel’s hand in his and leading her out of the party tent towards one of the vacant tents for sleeping. When they walked in, he tripped over one of the mattresses falling right onto it. “I guess this works.”

Raquel laughed over how clumsy he was and got onto the mattress next to the one he’d fallen on.

“Why are you so far away?” He whined drunkenly.

“I thought we were going to bed,” she laughed again. “You need to sleep this off,” she grinned over how disheveled he looked - his messy hair, his wrinkled shirt, one of his pant legs rolled up. How was she so charmed by this?

“Have you heard the drunk monkey hypothesis?” he asked, suddenly deep in thought.

“The what?”

“The reason that we’re so attracted to alcohol as humans is that monkeys and other primates are hypothesized to consume alcohol since they eat fruits and nectar which ferment.... And so our early ancestors consumed it regularly…”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Raquel smiled, turning on her side to see his body partly falling off the right side of the mattress.

“Nothing,” he smiled, “I just thought it was an interesting fact.”

Raquel smiled, “Got anymore interesting facts?”

“Yes, but you’re still too far away,” he pouted drunkenly.

Raquel rolled her eyes playfully and crawled to his mattress, laying next to him on her back, “Better?”

“Almost,” he smiled, turning his body and putting his arm across her stomach. “Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?”

“Sergio!” She laughed, shaking her head. He was _really_ drunk.

“I have a confession,” he whispered loudly, his tone trying to be completely serious but the slurs making it hard for her to take him seriously.

“What’s that,” she chuckled, completely amused by him.

“Tatiana is my brother’s ex wife.”

“You dated your brother’s ex?!”

“No,” he denied vehemently, “Never. I mean she’s not my ex. My brother was messing with me.”

“Silene suspected that,” she nodded, relieved to have this confirmed. “When I talked to her earlier, what she said didn’t sound like you.”

“What did she say?” He asked, worried over what she’d tell Raquel.

“That you weren’t attentive, caring or,” she looked down at his hand absentmindedly rubbing her lower stomach in soft circles, “affectionate.”

“She’s not wrong,” he sighed sadly, suddenly hating that it had taken him this long to feel so strongly for someone who wasn’t his direct family. He was completely out of his league.

She looked into his eyes which seemed to be lost in thought, “You’ve been nothing but attentive and caring with me,” she smiled encouragingly while placing her hand over his to show him how affectionate he was.

“But you’re different,” he sighed as he began to lean closer to her.

“How so,” she whispered, her voice filled with tension. 

Before he could answer, he felt his stomach turn, causing him to gag. Raquel, immediately sensing the alcohol was coming back up, got up and dragged him as far away from the tent as possible before all of the scotch he consumed came back up. While he vomited off and on for a few minutes, Raquel rubbed his back comfortingly in an effort to show him that it was going to be okay.

“Now, I’m the one embarrassed,” he commented, remembering their conversation after he’d taken care of her after the beach party.

She helped him stand back up when he was feeling better, letting him lean on her. “I suppose we’re even now,” she chuckled “Come on,” she led him to the washroom to clean up and brush his teeth. 

“Where’s your bag?” She asked once they were in the bathroom and he’d managed to get the toothbrush in his mouth after a few tries.

“It’s the blue one in the corner of the tent we were in,” he replied after spitting toothpaste into the sink.

“Stay here,” she instructed, “I’m going to go get it.”

When Raquel got back to the tent, she saw Agata, Alicia and Silene inside, getting ready for bed.

 _Agata._ Raquel put her out of her mind after seeing her and Sergio in a compromising position earlier. And, of course, she was in the bed next to Sergio’s bag…

“Hi Agata,” she greeted cautiously, “Can you hand me the blue bag next to you?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, grabbing it and throwing it softly to Raquel. 

“Thanks,” she responded coldly and turned to leave.

“Raquel, wait!” Agata stopped her, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, confused over where this was suddenly coming from.

Alicia rolled her eyes, annoyed by how drawn out this was going to be between the two women when all she wanted was to get some sleep, “She’s sorry she tried to fuck the professor earlier, told you to stay away from him and was a complete bitch to you. Did I cover it?”

Agata gasped, “You’re the one who told me to dangle my treat in front of him so you could get with Raquel!”

“This is a lot to process,” Raquel sighed as she attempted to comprehend all of this information thrown at her. “Is that true, Alicia?”

“Okay, yes, but I didn’t want you caught in some weird love triangle with her and the nerd. You deserve better than that…and he needed to be tested” She responded, defending her intentions to her only real friend in the house, “Good news… he passed?”

“Ridiculous,” Raquel shook her head, pulling the bag closer to her. “I’m going to say all of this once, and then we can all forget this ever happened. First, Alicia, I would appreciate it if you didn’t play games on my behalf. Talk to me before you try to orchestrate anything in my name. It’s unfair of you to play with people’s emotions like that. Second, Agata, your feelings and connection with Sergio are none of my business. He and I are not together. We’re friends. Just like I thought we were before you started making assumptions about my intentions and shutting me out.”

“I’m sorry,” they both mumbled regretfully.

“Fine,” she sighed, grabbing her own bag as well, and walked out of the tent and back to Sergio in the bathroom area. “Here’s your bag,” she said, handing it to him under one of the stalls.

“Thanks,” he said from behind the door and began shuffling around.

Raquel walked into the stall next to his and changed quickly into her sleep shorts and t-shirt. When she heard Sergio continue to shuffle around after a few minutes, she grew worried, “Are you okay?”

“Yep! All changed” he slurred, stumbling out of the stall proud of himself.

“Congrats,” she laughed over how adorable he looked in his boxers and t-shirt, relieved he didn't bring his librarian style PJs, “Come on, let’s get you to bed,” she took his hand to bring him back to the tent which now included the three women she spoke to earlier. “You can take the bed in the corner,” she instructed while putting their bags to the side.

“Ok,” he easily agreed and stumbled over to the mattress, smiling at the three women while he passed.

Alicia and Silene were having a hard time holding in their laughs over how drunk he was when he made a loud thump falling onto the mattress.

“I’m going to get you some water,” Raquel announced and walked over to the party tent, shaking her head over how the always in control professor was having such a messy night.

“You’re a mess,” Alicia laughed at Sergio from her bed on the other side of the tent. “Who knew the pickle in his ass professor had a wild side…”

“I wouldn’t mind checking out that pickle right now,” Silene flirted, causing Alicia to laugh and Agata to groan in disgust.

Sergio, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the innuendo, “Some of the earliest pickles date back to 2030 BC in Tigris Valley. 

“What are you talking about?!” Alicia asked, taken aback over how random his statement was.

“I thought we were talking about pickles. I was simply offering some knowledge,” he explained drunkenly as if it were the most natural thing.

“Oh boy,” Silene laughed. 

Raquel walked in when everyone was laughing with two bottles of water. “What’s so funny?”

“The drunk professor is my new favourite professor,” Silene smirked.

Raquel, smiling over how ridiculous he looked, walked over to Sergio’s bed to hand him a water bottle. Once he took it, she began to walk away but he quickly grabbed her arm, “Where are you going?”

“To bed,” she replied, shocked by his behaviour as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

He sat up and swiftly pulled her on his lap, “Stay with me,” he whispered.

“You’re drunk…” she denied.

“So?”

“And there are people watching,” she looked at the three women who were watching them with invested interest. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Agata, especially when she didn’t know what happened between them. When she moved her gaze to her, she was surprised to see the younger woman smiling at them. 

“So?” he repeated. “It might get cold tonight…”

“It’s 28 degrees.”

“See? So cold…” he continued on fake shivering drunkenly with his hands around her waist.

“You’re so drunk,” she smiled, shaking her head over how ridiculous he was being and then moved to get up and away from him. “Go to sleep.”

“Fine…” he sighed loudly to show his annoyance when she moved over to her bed a metre away and turned off the flashlights

“Goodnight everyone,” Raquel pulled up her covers as she heard everyone grumble in response. They were all ready to put this awful day behind them. 

She spent a few minutes tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable but failing miserably. The temptation to be next to Sergio again was invading her mind, wishing she could be in the comfort of his arms. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling this way. He was a friend. He was drunk. All of this will be one big laugh tomorrow, she thought miserably.

When she turned around again in an attempt to find a comfortable position, she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“It’s just me,” Sergio whispered when she flinched, pulling her blanket back to slip into the bed next to her.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, surprised by how bold he was being.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” he replied, positioning his body next to hers when she made room for him next to her.

“You’re going to regret this tomorrow,” she warned, assuming it was the copious amount of alcohol he drank making him extra friendly.

“I’d never regret sleeping with you in my arms,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her body into his. She hated to admit but but she finally felt comfortable in his embrace.

“Oh Sergio,” she sighed nervously over the combination of comfort and electricity she could feel growing between them, “What’s happening?”

“The best thing to ever happen in my life,” he whispered drunkenly immediately followed by snores, signifying he had finally succumbed to sleep.

Raquel's eyes widened in shock. _What did he just say?_

**_[cheesy voiceover]_** _On the next few chapters of Perfect Match, will Agata and Raquel work through their issues? Will Silene admit her feelings for Anibal? Who will be Alicia's new target? Will Sofia ever get any screentime? Will Sergio or Raquel FINALLY kiss?! Coming soon to an ao3 near you._


	6. Dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third match up ceremony is coming up. Will the house finally get more than one match?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU ALL AGAIN for all of your thoughtful comments, tweets, and messages. It really means so much to me that this story can be a happy escape from everything that's happening right now. I love writing this crazy little world and am so happy that there are so many of you on this journey with me. 
> 
> And a shout-out to my Serquel GC where we have some of the wildest chats which gave me some inspiration for this a scene in this chapter. ;)

Raquel broke a second egg into a large skillet, enjoying the satisfaction of the sizzle while she prepared Spanish-style eggs for breakfast. She had woken up craving a good home-cooked breakfast and figured she had nothing but time to spoil herself during this game. As she was making room in the pan for a third egg in the mixture of tomato sauce, chorizo, vegetables and spices, she heard footsteps in the kitchen behind her.

She turned around to see Sergio approaching to pour himself a cup of coffee that the production staff had provided.

“Morning,” she attempted to smile.

“Morning,” he nodded, bringing the mug to his mouth and savouring the first sip.

“I’m making breakfast, did you want some? I have plenty…” she offered, hating how awkward it had been between them since the “exes retreat” a couple of days ago.

“No, I’m not very hungry,” he declined while grabbing a protein bar from the counter. 

“Ok,” she nodded and turned back to her skillet to ensure that the eggs were cooking properly.

“I should go,” he finally said after a couple of minutes of silence as she completed her dish and began plating a small portion of it for herself.

“Sure,” she smiled awkwardly while he all but ran to the backyard to get out of her presence. She couldn’t help but feel sadness over the strain between them as she took a seat at the table, thinking back to the morning after Sergio’s drunken night.

*******

_ Sergio awoke suddenly when he heard Silene and Alicia laughing behind him. He turned his body and quickly felt the spins from the copious amount of scotch he consumed followed by the pounding in his head. As he attempted to move his stiff body, he felt something - rather someone - leaning on his chest.  _

_   
_ _ Raquel.  _

_ He had woken up next to Raquel. How had that happened? Quickly, flashes of the previous night came back to him like a terrible slideshow: Tatiana, turning down Agata, dancing and flirting with Raquel, begging her to sleep next to him and eventually joining her in bed. Why hadn’t he been blessed with the black-out Raquel had from the night of the beach party? _

_ And finally, remembering his response when she asked what was happening. Oh Sergio, what have you done? She’s made it clear she’s not in this game for this. You’re not supposed to be feeling like this during such a superficial TV game show. This was bad. Really bad. _

_ Completely embarrassed by his actions, he tried to slowly move his body away from hers but the second he started to inch his body away, she opened her eyes and moved away. _

_ "I’m so so so sorry,” Sergio apologized and then looked back to see Alicia, Agata and Silene all watching the scene unfold like they were watching a movie. All they were missing was a bucket of popcorn, he thought bitterly. “I wasn’t myself last night. I’d never-” _

_ “So, you didn’t mean anything you said last night?” She questioned, feeling hurt by his adverse reaction to her, especially when she felt like they were starting to-... it didn’t matter now. He clearly didn’t want it. _

_ “No,” he denied, embarrassed. “I was not myself. I wasn’t thinking…” _

_ “Does that mean…?” Agata asked from the other side of the tent, suddenly hopeful. _

_ He looked at her, seeing how hopeful she was that perhaps he hadn’t intended to stop her from chasing him. “No, I still stand by what I said to you, sorry,” he told her sadly. _

_ Sergio Marquina, breaking all of our hearts today, Raquel thought bitterly. “Maybe you should go,” she sighed, losing patience with how quickly he reverted back to this cold version of himself.  _

_ “Yes,” he agreed, stood up (ignoring his massive hangover), grabbed his bag and all but ran out of the tent. _

_ “That went well,” Alicia commented in an attempt to cut some of the tension in the tent. _

_ "Are you okay, Raquel?” Silene asked, concerned for the woman who was currently looking through her bag looking both hurt and confused. _

_ “Yeah,” she tried to smile. “I just realized I forgot underwear…” _

_ “I-” Alicia began but Raquel quickly stopped her.  _

_ “No,” she interrupted, pointing at her to stop the suggestive comment she knew was about to come. _

_ “You’re no fun,” Alicia pouted. _

**_***_ **

Raquel took the final bite of her breakfast, thinking about that morning. Other than a few short words here and there, they hadn’t really talked since he ran out of the tent. She knew he was mortified by his behaviour and that she shouldn’t take it personally. But it was hard not to. Not when, for the first time in years, could she feel her heart opening up to someone again.

Helsinki suddenly walked into the kitchen unconsciously rubbing his stomach in hunger.

“Morning Raquel,” he smiled, and she instantly felt her mood brighten. She loved his positive and kind presence.

“Hey Helsi,” she smiled warmly, “I still have some eggs on the stove if you want the rest.”

“That’s the beautiful smell that woke me up,” he gushed. “Thank you!” He all but jumped as he grabbed a plate and took the remaining contents from the skillet.

As he sat down next to her, he sang,  _ “Did you ever know that you’re my hero…” _

She laughed over his tone deaf attempt, “Don’t call me a hero until you try it…”

He took a big bite and continued singing,  _ “ _ _ I can fly higher than an eagle. For you are the wind beneath my wings” _

“You’re too kind,” she laughed. 

“It’s nice to see you smiling again,” he commented between bites.

“I’ve been smiling,” she argued.

“No, you’ve been hurting,” he clarified for her. “Sergio’s an ass.”

“He’s not…” Raquel denied.

“He broke Agata’s heart and now he’s broken yours…” he said sadly.

“He didn’t break my heart,” she denied again. “He’s just not ready or maybe will never be ready to let someone into his heart. I got too close.”

“Anyone would be lucky to have you. He’s an idiot for shutting you out.” 

“He is,” she agreed while standing up, “But I will respect his boundaries. Now, when you're done with that, I have a secret stash of churros hidden in the back of the fridge. They’re all yours.”

“You’re my perfect match,” he grinned happily.

* * *

Later that afternoon, the group walked into the backyard greeted by Andres for their next getaway challenge. This was an important week because they really needed to get a perfect match so they can start figuring out what the matchmaker’s strategy was.

“How’s everyone after the retreat?” Andres smirked, knowing some of the drama many experienced.

“It was a good reminder for me to stop going after people who don’t respect me,” Monica replied, relieved to have some closure with her past terrible relationship.

“Your ex was a dick,” Daniel shook his head, having flashbacks to nearly punching the guy when he gloated about Monica returning to him when this was over because she needed a ‘real man’.

“Probably didn’t know how to use it either,” Alicia commented and all of the ladies cheered.

“Ok ok,” Andres quieted the group. “Sometimes we have to look back in order to know the path we need to take in the future. Sergio,” he looked straight at his brother who currently resembled ‘Anger’ from  _ Inside Out _ . “Did you learn anything about yourself after seeing your ex?”

Sergio, doing his best not to grind his teeth too hard in anger, crafted a response directed at his brother when he saw three cameras on him, “I was reminded why I can’t trust some of the people in my life.” 

Andres smiled as he felt the glare from across the lawn. Tatiana unsteadied him just as he hoped. Good. “Well, that’s why you’re here. To find that one person you can trust…” 

Sergio rolled his eyes, causing Andres to laugh again.

“Let’s all move forward today.” Andres smiled, getting back to the script. “Behind me, you’ll see 16 balloons all with your life dreams written out. You’ll have the chance to shoot an arrow at the balloon of your choice. The first two people who successfully burst a balloon will go on a date with the people who wrote those goals. And you don’t want to miss this date - you’re going on a romantic boat ride through a cave and then a beautiful dinner for two on the beach at sunset.”

The group cheered at the prospect of getting out of the house to see more of the island.

“And remember, choose wisely! Those who don’t win the date will be able to vote one of the two couples into the Truth Booth to see if they’re a perfect match. You all NEED this to go well. We’re on week 3 and you still have no matches.”

After one of the producers had gone over the safety rules, the group began taking turns shooting arrows. Some dropped the arrow before they could get into position while others could barely shoot the arrow one metre ahead of them. It was yet another comedic montage for the show.

Raquel had no desire to go on a date with anyone, so she purposely kept shooting her arrows over the balloons. She was lucky to have her weekly chat with Paula tonight and no one was getting in the way of that.

Some of the goals written out were ridiculous: be a playboy bunny, eat 10,000 grilled cheese sandwiches, have a fivesome (Raquel was going nowhere near that person), have 10 orgasms in an hour (how?! Raquel thought), rob a bank, etc.

Sergio, also not enthusiastic at the prospect of a date, was shooting the arrows at random. Reading these life goals was reminding him why he hated this house in the first place. He had let his emotions invade his senses, but he was happy to finally be back to a place where he can push those emotions away and focus on getting through this game. Unfortunately for him, one of the shots with his eyes closed popped the first balloon.  _ Oh shit. _

“We have our first date!” Andres smiled, “Who wrote ‘open a rescue for exotic animals’?”

“That was me,” Sofia smiled. 

“Sergio and Sofia are going on the date! Congrats. There’s still one spot left.”

Raquel perked up at this. Had they ever spoken before? Sofia seemed really sweet and like she had her life together. Maybe this would be good for Sergio.

After a few minutes of many terrible attempts at shooting arrows among the contestants, a second balloon was popped. “Angel, congrats!” Andres congratulated, “Who said their goal was to open a school in Peru?”

“That was me,” Mari Carmen smiled shyly. 

“Congrats Mari Carmen and Angel who will also be going on the date today!” He smiled at them, “Everyone else: you have the important job of voting one of these two couples in the Truth Booth. Pick wisely.”

With that, Andres left the group to discuss the challenge, laugh about how terrible some of them were and judge others over how ridiculous the goals were.

* * *

Sergio did one last mirror check to ensure he looked presentable for his date in a few minutes. Satisfied that his hair wasn’t completely frizzy from the humidity, he walked out of the bathroom nearly running into Alicia.

“Sorry,” Sergio mumbled in an attempt to be not Alicia-ed today. Yes, he turned her name into a verb.

“Sergio,’ she greeted with a wicked smile, “Do you remember my little threat?”

“Which one?” He asked, confused. She made many.

“What would happen if you hurt Raquel….”

Instantly, he could fill his crotch tense in fear.

“Do I need to hire a hit man?”

“I haven’t hurt-”

“No? So you haven’t made her all mopey the last two days because you’re too much of a chicken shit to admit you have feelings for her?”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t make me start making jokes about you living in a river in Egypt…”

“The Nile river?”

“Do I have to spell out everything with you?! You’re supposed to be smart. DA-NILE.”

“Oh,” he frowned, unsure of how to respond to her.

“So you don’t care that you’ve hurt Raquel?” She accused, her eyes cutting into him.

Sergio sighed, knowing there was no escaping this, “Of course I care…”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Uh…” Sergio stuttered. Truthfully, he’d been so lost in his own embarrassment that it hadn’t even crossed his mind that he may have hurt her these past few days. Yet another reminder of why he wasn’t meant for relationships.

“Idiot,” she groaned. “Because I care about Raquel, I’m going to give you some advice.” When she saw his shocked look, she added, “Don’t get used to this.”

“Ok..” he listened, wondering if this was another one of her traps. Was she all of a sudden going to kick him in the balls and spit in his face?

“Raquel really likes you. I don’t know why. I’ve told her many times you’re a complete tool, but she doesn’t listen. You make her smile. She likes talking to you. And I’m pretty sure if you kissed her, you’d both be in the boom boom room in 10 seconds…oof that chemistry…”

“Is this going somewhere?” he asked impatiently, his guilt over being so distant over the past few days beginning to eat at him.

“DON’T FUCK IT UP!” she yelled at him slowly. “You could have her. She’s so out of your league. She’s Beyonce and you’re that ant in the corner over there. It makes no sense…”

“Do you have a point?” he asked, annoyed that she was constantly going off on tangents simply to insult him.

“Tell her you meant the things you said the other night. We both know you did. Tell her she’s special. Tell her you want to kiss her. Get out of that turtle shell of fear you live in and realise that you’ve got the best person in here wanting to be with you. Make her see just how much you want her.” She told him emphatically. So honestly that it took Sergio aback for a moment. 

“I-” he began, but she interrupted him again not wanting to hear him challenge her. She only wanted him to think about the implications of his actions.

“She deserves that,” she emphasizes. “And I’m about to be nice to you, so you may want to hold on to the wall for a second… you deserve it too. You are well matched. We all see it, and it’s about the time you two idiots see it too.”

Sergio looked to the ground and then back up to Alicia surprised by her words. Was she right? 

“Sergio, Sofia, Angel and Mari Carmen” one of the producers yelled, “Time for your dates!”

Saved by the _date_? He didn’t want to admit that her words had deeply affected him. Thoughts of hurting Raquel with his actions and how there was a possibility she had returned his feelings hit him like an arrow in the chest. It both invigorated and scared him. He knew he had to talk to her. The thought of this being the end of their connection left him feeling uneasy. Damnit, why did he have to accidentally pop a balloon during today’s challenge? This was the last thing he needed right now.

“One last thing before you go,” she stopped him as he was about to make his way down the stairs. “Don’t lead Sofia on too… I can’t pick up the pieces of another casualty of Sergio Marquina. You’re a fucking nerdy Cassanova, I swear” she mumbled while walking away.

* * *

Sergio and Sofia sat in a small rowboat behind Angel and Mari Carmen looking at the amazing scenery in the Canyon Gates of Scenery. After the rollercoaster of emotions he’d experienced this week, he was relieved to enjoy the freedom of being away from all of the drama.

He hadn’t said much to Sofia who was next to him nervously playing with the fabric of her dress while she looked at the amazing sights around them. Because Agata had claimed Sergio day one and then he seemed to have a growing connection with Raquel, she had stayed away from him. But hearing that he had stopped moving forward with both women made her wonder if perhaps she had a chance. He was good looking, smart, successful. Who wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see if they had a connection with this man?

Sergio, on the other hand, couldn’t get his mind off two things that Alicia had told him: one, Raquel had feelings for him and two, not to lead another woman on. He had never intended to lead anyone on and never thought that his actions had been giving the people around him mixed signals. And with Raquel, he wasn’t even sure what he was doing. He often felt himself losing control of his emotions around her which as evidenced by his drunken actions. And a large part of his embarrassment came from thinking he was pushing too hard with her. That he was going to scare her. But had he done the opposite? Did she feel played by him? The thought crushed him. He really needed to talk to her and, unfortunately, he was stuck on a boat tight now and had to pretend he was interested in this date.

“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” Sofia gushed while looking at a particular rock formation.

Sergio, forgetting where he was for a moment while lost in thought, replied, “Yes, very…”

**_/ /_ **

Raquel walked into the hot tub, letting the hot water heal all of the tension she felt in her mind and body. Why hadn’t she thought of having alone time in here before? 

Facing the ocean, she let her gaze fall on the calm waves and couldn’t help but think about Sergio’s date. Were he and Sofia getting along? Were they laughing together? Was he showing her his elusive romantic side? 

Taking a sip of her wine, she tried to clear all thoughts of him from her mind and went back to her recent conversation with Paula. She had spent a half hour telling her all about a frog she named Toby and all of the adventures they went on together that day. She was so relieved her little girl was happy and finding happiness in the camp. Thinking about her family gave her the grounding she needed to keep her head in this game. She was here for her family and not her own selfish desires; however, there was that annoying voice in the back of her head asking why she couldn’t have both. She really hated that voice sometimes.

“Mind if I join you?” a reluctant voice asked behind her.

“It’s a free hot tub,” Raquel mumbled as she watched Agata slowly submerge her body in the near boiling water.

“I thought this was the perfect time for us to talk,” Agata offered nervously as her body adjusted to the temperature of the water.

“What’s there to talk about?” Raquel asked bitterly, taking another sip of her wine suddenly wishing she could go back to the comforting visions of her daughter.

“I’m really sorry.” she started, “The way I treated you at the retreat when I was with Sergio was unforgivable”

“I’m glad we both agree,” Raquel responded coldly, keeping her eye on the ocean. 

“I never should have treated you the way I did. I had convinced myself of that Sergio and I had something real and deep, and I blamed you for his hesitation.”

Raquel simply nodded and took another sip of her wine not ready to contribute to the discussion yet.

“Sergio put me in my place,” she revealed, causing Raquel to look at her in shock. “When you left, he told me that there was nothing more than friendship between us and that the reason he and I were not together was him.”

“Good,” she nodded. “I’m glad he was honest with you…”

“And he made it clear he wanted to spend more time with you…”

Raquel shook her head, “That was the scotch talking.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she corrected sadly. 

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Whatever that was is over now anyway,” Raquel smiled in an attempt to cover the ache in her heart.

“Raquel, I never should have told you to stay away from him. We can’t win this game by being territorial, and I was naive to think that I could come in, choose my match and tell everyone else to back off. It was really shitty of me…”

“It was,” Raquel agreed, “But not because of Sergio. I would have happily supported you two together. It sucked because I really thought we could be friends in here. It sucked that you assumed I would just…”

“It wasn’t that,” Agata shook her head in denial. “I know how loyal you are to the people you care about… I think what scared me was that Sergio would look at you in a way I could only wish he'd look at me. I felt threatened. I turned into a jealous bitch… fuck, I turned into the type of girl I hate.”

“It was never my intention for any of that to happen. I had convinced myself that I was just making another friend in here and that you were who he needed.”

“I guess we’re both idiots,” Agata laughed.

“Yeah,” Raquel smiled.

“How are you feeling about him being on a date?” Agata asked, relieved that some of the tension between them seemed to be disappearing.

Raquel shrugged, “I hope he’s having a good time…”

Agata looked at her incredulously, “You’re a better woman than I am…”

**/ /**

Sergio and Sofia sat at a table setup for two right by the beach. There was a perfectly crafted spread of cheese, chorizo, vegetables and wine waiting for them.

“This looks amazing,” Sofia gushed while grabbing a piece of bread.

“It does,” Sergio agreed while taking a small sip of wine.

“So…” she started awkwardly, annoyed that he wasn’t making this easy on her. She had attempted to ask him about his job, family, and hobbies throughout the boat ride, and all of his answers here abrupt and thoughtless. It felt like he wasn’t even with her on this date.

“The caves were amazing,” he commented while grabbing a piece of cheese.

“We covered that about 5 times,” she rolled her eyes. “Do you even want to be here? Because I think I have a lot to offer. I own a business, I devote my spare time to animal rescues, I have a big family… I think I am pretty good looking. But you barely even look at me…” she said sadly, reaching her breaking point with him.

“I’m so sorry,” Sergio sobered up and realized how terrible of a date he’d been, “You are beautiful, and I do think you have so much to offer...”

“So why aren’t you taking any of it?” She asked, annoyed, “I had my eye on you the first night we were here but Agata basically told everyone you were off limits. And then I thought maybe there was something with Raquel but I heard you turned her and Agata down at the retreat. I was hoping that could mean…”

“What was that about Raquel?” Sergio asked, suddenly forgetting everything she said and focusing on people talking about how he ‘turned Raquel down’. 

“I heard the morning after the retreat you told her you didn’t have feelings for her. I’ll admit I was surprised by the way you were dancing together, but I know sometimes alcohol can make us think we feel a certain way when we don’t…”

“Is that what everyone thinks?” Sergio frowned. This was bad. Very bad.

“Well yeah,” Sofia nodded.

Sergio took a long sip of his wine in an attempt to hide how angry he was over all of the gossiping about him and the assumptions that were being made. But most of all, he worried that if everyone felt this way that perhaps Raquel did too. He let her think he-

“Is that not the case?” she asked, confused over how conflicted he looked.

“No, it’s not…” he sighed bitterly. 

* * *

Later that evening, the dates had returned. Sofia couldn’t get away from Sergio fast enough since admitting that he wasn’t as open to a new connection as she’d hoped. He also chose to stay completely silent as they ate since hearing the rumours about him and Raquel circulating around the house. Worst date she’d ever been on.

In contrast, Angel and Mari Carmen appeared to be glowing after their date and decided they didn’t want it to end, running straight to the “boom boom room”.

Sergio, on the other hand, only had one mission in mind and that was to talk to Raquel. He wished he wasn’t so blind to see how his actions sent a message he never intended. He walked out into the backyard and saw her on one of the day beds outside staring aimlessly at the ocean.

This was his chance. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to her, “Is this seat taken?” he asked, gesturing to the open space next to her on the outdoor bed.

“Yes, by your regrets,” She remarked bitterly, turning away from him.

“I deserved that,” He smiled while taking the seat anyway. 

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you just on a date?”

“I was, but I was just yelled at in the car for being the worst date ever,” He grimaced over the memories. 

“Oh Sergio,” she sighed, turning around to face him. “What did you do?”

“I... I couldn’t focus,” he admitted.

“Why not? She’s beautiful and seems really nice…”

“Oh, I know. She reminded me of that quite a few times…”

“So what was the problem?” She asked, confused over why he was suddenly sitting next to her after a couple of days of near silence.

“I didn’t come in here looking for this,” he sighed to himself.

“Looking for what?”

“I was supposed to sit back, observe everyone and try to help us figure out the winning combination.”

“Sergio,” she stopped him while sitting up so she could look at him at eye level. “If you’re telling me to want to go back to spending more time in solitude and take a breather from this game…”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he sighed. Frustrated over how hard this was for him to formulate. Put him in front of hundreds of students and he can easily talk for three hours about criminal law. But this? This he didn’t have a degree in.

“So then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I let you believe something that wasn’t true,” he sighed.

“You’ve lost me…”

Sergio thoughts back to the advice that Alicia gave him,  _ tell her you meant everything you said.  _ “I-” he began…

“Contestants, please return to the living room for the Truth Booth results,” a producer’s voice came over the speaker, interrupting Sergio.

“I guess that’s our cue,” she smiled as she maneuvered out of the bed.

“Wait,” he stopped her as he stood up and his heart began to beat a mile a minute when he stared into her beautiful and expressive eyes.

“I meant everything I said,” he finally got out. Relief.

“Right now?” she asked, confused over what he was referring to.

“Contestants, now!” the voice demanded.

“We should really go,” she began to walk away.

“Raquel and Sergio, please come in and take your seats,” the producer ran outside to remind them for the third time.

“Coming,” she smiled and then looked back at Sergio to see how conflicted he looked. “We can talk later.”

That didn’t go as he planned, Sergio sighed. 

“Sergio, happy you could finally join us,” Andres grinned at his brother, “Please take your seat next to Sofia. How were the dates?”

“Fantastic,” Mari Carmen grinned, “I didn’t know Angel was so romantic.”

_ Neither did I,  _ Raquel laughed to herself. 

“Worst date ever,” Sofia rolled her eyes. Sergio nodded, agreeing that he wasn’t the best date.

“And why’s that?” Andres asked, amused.

“It sucks going on a date when the person you’re trying to connect with is thinking about someone else.”

“And who were you thinking about, Sergio?” Andres gasped over how juicy this was getting.

“I wasn’t-” he denied, wanting to walk over to his brother and strangle him for forcing him to join this game.

It hit Raquel what he had been referring to earlier and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach. He sabotaged his date because of her? Why was that the sweetest thing she’d heard in a long time?

“I’ll let it go this time,” Andres laughed, taking pity over how red his brother was. He had to admit he was enjoying this more than he expected. “It’s time to see who you all voted in the Truth Booth,” he announced while looking at the screen behind him. After a few seconds, Mari Carmen’s and Angel’s photos came up, signifying they had been voted in to see whether they were a perfect match.

Given the connection between them tonight, they were all hopeful that this could be their first match. Everyone could feel the tension in the air as they were all aware how important getting this right was. When the couple walked out, everyone was silent, their eyes on the screen trying to manifest a perfect match.

After a few minutes, they could see the screen beginning to flash and suddenly the word PERFECT MATCH was written across. They had done it. Their first match. Everyone screamed, jumped and hugged in celebration. 

Raquel had jumped straight into Helsinki’s arms in happiness. She looked towards Sergio who was awkwardly lowering his arms. Had he been expecting…

“LET’S PARTY!” Silene yelled over the group when Mari Carmen and Angel came back into the house with huge grins on their faces. “TO OUR FIRST PERFECT MATCH!!!”

“Our first perfect match!!” everyone cheered happily. Marsaille had grabbed a bottle of champagne, spraying it over everyone. 

For an hour, everyone danced together in happiness. It was the first time the tension of the game left their bodies and they let themselves enjoy the night. They were finally one step closer to winning the money. 

Angel left Mari Carmen’s side for a moment and walked up to Raquel in the kitchen who was grabbing a flute of champagne, “Can we talk?” he asked.

Raquel looked confused for a moment as they’d barely talked since the first week, but she had no good reason to say no, “Sure,” she agreed, leading him to a quiet corner near the main entrance. “Congratulations on finding your perfect match,” she smiled. “Mari Carmen is an amazing woman.”

Angel looked closely to see if he could sense whether she was feeling negatively at all about him leaving the house. Truthfully, he couldn’t get her out of his mind since it was confirmed that it wasn’t a match, and he knew this was his only chance to see if she felt the same way before he left for the honeymoon suite.

“Yes,” he smiled tightly, trying to find the right way to approach this. “She is… but if I could have chosen who my perfect match was, I would have…”

“Stop right there,” Raquel interrupted, having a bad feeling about where this was going. “You’ve just been confirmed to be a perfect match with Mari Carmen. Don’t fuck that up.”

“I know,” he sighed, “And I agree, she’s a great woman, but if you gave me even a hint that there could be something between us, I’d wait for you. I’d end it with her.”

Oh boy, Raquel breathed in. She didn’t see this coming at all, “Angel….”

“Don’t say my name like that…”

“Like what?”

“Like you pity me. I’m not some idiot who needs to be patronized by you. I’m being honest about my feelings for you which is more than what you’re getting from…”

“Don’t,” she stopped him. 

“That’s why you won’t give me a chance, isn’t it?” he complained. “You want him…”

Raquel sat back in the chair, hating how uncomfortable this whole conversation was making her. “It’s not that…”

“Just tell me one thing,” he sighed. “Would you sleep with him in here?”

“Who?” she asked dumbly to buy time.

“Sergio,” he spelled it out. “Would you take him to the boom boom room?”

Raquel was losing patience with this conversation and knew there was only one way to shut him up, “Yes, I would. Why wouldn’t I? I’m a free woman. I can make my own decisions.”

What Raquel didn’t see was Sergio in the next room who walked in right in time to overhear that part of the conversation. He coughed as he lost his breath over her confession. She would…. He wanted to cheer loudly. He wanted to scoop her up now and take her away from Angel and to the bedroom. If only he had the courage to run in there and kiss her.

“TRUTH OR DARE!!!!” Agata yelled, interrupting his thoughts.

“RAQUEL, GET IN HERE!!” Alicia yelled drunkenly.

Angel looked crushed by her admission. This wasn’t how he had planned this conversation going. He thought that perhaps she’d felt the same spark he did.

“I’m going to go…” she said, hating that she was hurting him. And also hating that he’d put her in this position the same night he’d found his perfect match. Where was the respect for Mari Carmen?

“Ok,” he nodded sadly. “I’m going to need a couple of minutes.”

She took one last look at him, feeling guilty over how defeated he looked, but she didn’t know how to make it better without hurting him even more. And she didn’t think offering friendship only was the right move right now.

“Finally!” Silene smiled when Raquel joined the rest of the group. Sergio, however, opted out of joining the game and sat in the kitchen as a spectator. His breath caught in the back of his throat when he saw Raquel make her way to the group. All he could think about was what she said and what that meant. She wanted to… No, he had to stop himself before other body parts started making their presence known

Raquel took a seat next to Alicia already dreading this game, but since the confession from Angel and the confusion around Sergio, she felt she deserved some stupid fun. And what was more perfect than a game of truth or dare for that?

“I’ll start,” Alicia smiled wickedly. “Silene, truth or dare…”

“Truth,” the younger woman smirked.

“Ok, what’s the weirdest thing you've put into yourself to get off?”

Everyone gasped over how crude the question was but Silene simply smirked as they’d had this discussion before, and she knew how much Alicia loved how crazy this story was.

“I had a boyfriend who made me a gold dildo of his penis,” she revealed and the group gasped and laughed over how crazy this was.

“We had been fighting a lot, and he said something that took it too far. And he tried apologizing with flowers and chocolate, but I told him to fuck off,” She reminisced, still having a hard time believing she had dated this guy for six months.

“So he…” Raquel asked, confused over the logic of this story/

“Had a mold of his penis that was dipped in gold? Yes”

“That’s…” Agata tried to get a response out but couldn’t hold back the laughter.

“Expensive? He was rich,” she confirmed.

“Did you…” Monica asked, confused over how it would even feel.

“When a man gives you a € 50,000 golden dildo of his penis, you have to give it a go,” she said as if it were the most logical thing. 

“How did it feel?” Agata asked, somewhat disgusted by the idea but also curious.

“It was okay. A bit heavy to handle, so if you’re looking for a good arm workout ladies, I have just the thing…”

“Oh boy,” Raquel laughed into her hands. 

“Unfortunately, his penis wasn’t really the greatest shape, so it wasn’t the most pleasurable experience. I still got off but it wasn’t hitting all the right places…”

“Omg, stop!” Rio yelled, unable to listen to this ridiculous story anymore.

“It’s part of the game,” she smiled innocently. “Ok, my turn. Daniel, truth or dare.”

“Dare,” he smirked, ready for the challenge. 

“I dare you to strip naked and run in the pool,” she grinned evilly.

“Ok,” he grinned, stripping in front of everyone. Some were shielding their eyes and others were curious to see what  _ all  _ of him. 

Once he jumped into the pool, he screamed in triumph, inspiring the rest of the group to cheer. Except Sergio who was still sitting in the kitchen rolling his eyes over how ridiculous this was.

“My turn!” He yelled from the pool, “Julia, truth or dare!”

“Truth,” she yelled back.

“Who’s someone who you haven’t talked to much that you really want to get to know better?” He asked as he walked in with a towel around his waist that one of the producers handed him.

“Umm…” she smiled, “I’d love to get to know Agata a bit better.”

“Hello,” Agata grinned, elated to be chosen by this beautiful woman. “Well, we’ll have to hang out tomorrow.”

The game went on with many truth questions about their worst sexual experiences, how many orgasms in one night, who they wanted to fuck the most in the house. There were dares for many people to kiss each other. Agata kissed Julia; Alicia kissed Marselle (and then spit after); Sofia kissed Suarez; and most recently, Martin kissed Angel (followed by a disgusted face).

“My turn,” Martin smirked, “And I think Raquel has been getting it a bit too easy tonight.”

“No, I haven’t,” she denied, shuddering over the moment when she received many sympathetic stares when she admitted the most orgasms she had with a partner in one night was three. Sergio had perked up during that question, hating that he’d overheard her talking to Angel earlier. Now, all he could think about was how he could help her set some new records…

“I dare you to kiss Sergio for 10 seconds,” he grinned. If he needed to be a handsome cupid for these two, he would. If that meant his dear friend, Sergio, got out of his head and started thinking more with his mini head.

“He’s not even playing.” she denied, knowing Sergio wouldn’t be comfortable with this. She wasn’t even sure if she was comfortable with this.

“Sergio!” Martin yelled across the room, “You’re okay with this beautiful woman kissing you, right?” he grinned over how tense Sergio was over what was happening.

“If Sergio says yes, I’ll do it,” Raquel challenged, knowing there was no way he’d say yes…

“Yes,” Sergio replied once he’d walked over to the couches.

Raquel's whole body tensed in shock not expecting this turn of events. Did he just say yes? 

“Pucker up!” Martin smirked.

Raquel gave Marin a look that said,  _ I’m going to kill you,  _ and then walked up to Sergio to see just how nervous he was.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked, not wanting to make him completely uncomfortable. He’d just spent the last few days avoiding her because he flirted with her while he was drunk. Did a kiss mean he’d never look at her again?

He nodded and did his best to mentally prepare himself. Raquel was about to kiss him. It was a dare, so he knew this didn’t mean anything more than a game, but he couldn’t help but feel his whole body tingle over the idea of her lips on his. 

She walked up to him and grabbed his hands, “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’ll be over quickly.”

As she began to lean forward, time slowed for Sergio. Her face inching closer, the group behind all watching with invested interest, Martin smirking. This was wrong. This wasn’t what he wanted as the memory of their first kiss, especially after her saying  _ It’ll be over quickly. _

“Stop,” he pushed her back, “I’m sorry but I can’t do this,” he breathed out and then quickly walked out of the house towards the backyard.

Raquel, who had barely had enough time to process what had just happened, stood frozen in place. Hurt. Confused. 

“I’ll go talk to him,” Martin announced and ran out of the house towards Sergio.

“Hey,” he greeted when he found him sitting at one of the tables, looking completely defeated. “I’m sorry if I pushed you too fast,” he said honestly while taking a seat on the other side of the small table.

“No, don’t be sorry. I wanted it, but when it was about to happen and I saw all of you watching, it didn’t feel right. I want more than some kiss because of a dare…”

“Wow,” Martin gasped. “Did I just hear you correctly?”

Sergio nodded, even surprising himself by being so direct about his feelings for her. It felt freeing to talk to Martin about this, “She’s amazing.”

“She is…”

“And I don’t want to take advantage of a silly game or admit feelings when I’m drunk. She deserves better than that. And I don’t know if I can be the one-”

“Sergio,” Martin interrupted. “I know this is new for you. But I’ve seen how much you care about the people in your life. How far you go to make sure that everyone is taken care of, happy, and when they are wronged, you do everything in your power to make it right. Like your whole career being dedicated to your dad. Anyone would be lucky to have someone like you love them.”

“I’ve never felt like this before,” he confessed. “I’ve always been in control, but she…”

“She makes you want to dive right in not knowing how deep or shallow the water is.”

“I’m a chess player, I strategize every move… how is this possible? We’ve barely been in here three weeks...”

“That’s called love, my friend. Welcome to the brilliant and shitty world of falling head over heels for someone.”

“Now what?”

“Now, you go find that beautiful woman and you give her the kiss you just ran away from,” Martin gestured to the house.

“You’re right,” he sighed, determined to right his wrong.

“I always am,” Martin sat back proudly. Wait until Andres heard about this development, he smiled to himself.

Sergio ran into the living room in search of Raquel. Alicia, sensing who he was looking for, stopped him, “She went to bed.”

When Sergio began to walk away from the group towards the bedroom, Monica added, “I think she wants some space right now.”

“Ok,” he responded, dejected while taking a seat on the couch. He kept messing this up. How did he get out of this one now?

“She’s a strong woman, but there’s only so many times she can take being rejected,” Monica informed him..

Sergio, feeling completely defeated, put his head in his hands. He should have just kissed her and shut down all of his fears.

“Give her time,” Silene suggested. “And then you can both go back to being friends or whatever that was…” she shrugged.

“I don’t think he wants that,” Alica smirked over how defeated and lost he looked, “Maybe it’s time for a big gesture,” she advised and then gestured to the rest to go to the pool to continue their celebration, leaving Sergio alone to think about what she meant.

* * *

The next night, the 16 contestants walked onto the stage for the third match-up ceremony. Everyone was feeling some relief over identifying their first perfect match - and it was a couple who had never sat together. This was a good sign for them. Only seven more couples to correctly identify. 

Raquel had spent the day avoiding Sergio after feeling embarrassed by his rejection in front of everyone. Why would he say yes just to run away at the last second? Was he simply being polite at first? She needed to stop letting him feed into her own insecurities.

For this ceremony, she decided to put a bit more effort into her look, wearing a tight long-sleeved red bodycon dress that stopped mid thigh. Her hair was in loose curls, her eyes smokey and her lips a deep red. She had done this to feel better about herself, but the compliments had helped boosted her slightly wounded ego,

As per usual, Andres was in the middle of the front part of the stage with two touch screen devices for everyone to lock in with their chosen match for the week.

He looked particularly happy tonight, Sergio noted, and it terrified him. When his brother had that smile on his face, it only meant bad things for him.

“Hello everyone! Welcome to the third match-up ceremony,” he greeted when everyone took their place on the right side of the stage. “I’m really excited to hear that tonight, we have our first confirmed perfect match! Angel and Mari Carmen, go take a seat! Tonight, you’re off to the honeymoon suite to enjoy some alone time,” he raised his eyebrows. “And for the rest of you, the game continues! As we do every week, I will ask one of you to come up here, you will pick the person who you think is your perfect match, you’ll lock in, and then we’ll let the beams tell us how many you got right. But you won’t know who those matches are. That’s for all of you to figure out. Are we ready?”

The group cheered in response, putting a smile on Andres’ face. Identifying the first perfect match really elevated the mood among the contestants and it was nice to see. “Great! Let’s start with Sergio,” he smiled as his brother walked to the front of the stage not expecting to be the first one picked tonight. “How has the last week been?” He grinned.

“A learning experience,” Sergio simply responded. 

“Words I like to hear,” Andres smiled. “Ok, Sergio, who is your perfect match tonight?”

Sergio looked at his brother and then back towards the group. Alicia’s words were ringing in his mind,  _ it’s time to make a big gesture,  _ and so for the first time, Sergio decided to choose with his heart. “Tonight, my perfect match is Raquel.”

The majority of contestants were grinning over his choice with the exception of Raquel who looked confused by it.

“You look shocked,” Andres observed while the petite woman walked to the front of the stage to join Sergio.

“I am,” she admitted, causing Sergio to frown. How could she not know…

“Why’s that?” Andres asked.

“He’d been avoiding me the past few days and then rejected me in front of everyone last night…”

“So you don’t think you’re a match?” Andres asked, amused by her reaction and a bit concerned for his brother’s lack of ‘game’. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t think he knows what he wants.”

“That’s not true,” Sergio denied.

“Okay you two,” Andres stopped them as they had limited time to complete filming for this ceremony, “Lock in and go take a seat.”

They did as they were instructed and sat down in one of the seats, joining Mari Carmen and Angel.

The rest of the couples quickly locked in, including: Daniel and Monica, Anibal and Sofia, Suarez and Helsinki, Agata and Silene, Palermo and Alicia, and Marseille and Julia.

“Alright, you already have one beam for Mari Carmen and Angel, and now let’s see how well you all do. Remember, if you don’t get any other matches correct you will lose € 250,000.”

The lights went down as everyone watched the front of the stage with interest, praying they got a couple of more matches correct. They needed this.

After a few seconds, a new beam of light turned on, eliciting cheers from the group. No black out. After a few more seconds, another beam appeared, getting everyone on their feet.

“Come on, four matches baby!” Alicia yelled.

But quickly, the studio lights turned back on, signifying that they had gotten two extra matches.

“Great work you all!” Andres beamed proudly. “Three matches out of 8 in the third week. You’re finally getting somewhere! Keep playing with your hearts and I’ll see you at the next competition.”

As everyone walked back towards the house, Sergio grabbed Raquel’s hand and pulled her off to the side towards a large tree in a rare moment when there were no cameras on them.

“Sergio, what are you doing?” 

“I’m sorry about last night,” he apologized. 

“Sergio, it’s okay. I know we’re just friends, and I never should have let it get that far. You’ve been so good to me these past three weeks, and I almost pushed you to do something you didn’t want to do…”

“That’s…”

“It's okay,” she smiled, not letting him talk anymore to ruin this truce. “Now, we can go back to how it was before.”

“I don’t want that,” he shook his head and then did something that shocked her. Putting both of his hands on her hips, he pushed her until her back gently hit the tree and kissed her. His lips finally told her what he couldn’t convey with words all week — he knew exactly what he wanted.  _ Her. _

  
**_[cheesy voiceover]_ ** _Gasp!! What will happen next for these two lovebirds? Will the house keep this new streak of good luck going? Will Alicia ever stop insulting Sergio? Well, we know the answer to that one. Tune in to the next chapter. Coming soon._


	7. Boom Boom Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title pretty much tells you what this chapter is about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have to thank for all for your overwhelming support for this story. Reading your comments, tweets, and reaction messages have really inspired me to make this world even bigger than I originally intended. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, and it means the world that there's so much interest in the crack filled world.
> 
> I'll be honest, I've been nervous about posting this chapter. It challenged me as a writer to keep the mood of this story while also wanting to move Sergio and Raquel's connection forward. I'm really proud of how it turned out, but if this chapter isn't your cup of tea, I promise the next will be back to the crazy shenanigans of the game. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading. I hope you enjoy!

Raquel was too shocked to move at first. The way his hands on her hips were commanding her to move slowly. How his lips touched hers, tentatively at first but with increasing pressure as hers naturally opened, unintentionally inviting him to keep going while she attempted to comprehend what was happening in her mind.

_ Sergio. Was. Kissing. Her. _

And it was nice.  _ Really nice. _ His lips, moistened, slid over hers tentatively, gently, kissing her sweetly for a few seconds before moving back to get a sense of her reaction.

Feeling lightheaded by how sweet his kiss was, Raquel looked up into his eyes with wonder. She never expected him to make a move, especially such a vulnerable one. She could see the fear in his eyes while he looked down into her shocked ones, worried he overstepped. He never took this initiative before with a partner. He’d never made the first move. He felt naked right now.

“Oh Sergio,” Raquel breathed, holding back a smile. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I shouldn’t have? I’m-” he began to stutter, feeling his heart shatter. He knew the timing wasn’t perfect….

“No…” she sighed, placing her hands on the back of his neck and bringing his lips back to hers more forcefully, opening her mouth and running her tongue along his top lip to further deepen the kiss.

Quickly, he opened his mouth, allowing their tongues to play a game with each other - a swirl here and there, darting in and out teasingly. All of it causing the two to moan in each other’s mouths as the speed increased. They grew bolder with each other as they took the time to understand how the other liked to be kissed.

Their mouths fused together in a way that felt so natural. There weren't any awkward moments where they had to stop and reset. It felt like their lips were exactly where they were meant to be.

After a few minutes, Raquel broke the kiss breathlessly. “Wow…”

Sergio, relieved that he’d made the right move, began to move his lips to her neck, leaving small kisses unwilling to break contact with her. He’d never felt so much euphoria in one moment before, and he didn’t want the feeling to end. Holding her in his arms, kissing her, feeling the delicate skin of her neck under his lips, her soft breaths and moans… how had it taken him nearly 40 years to find her? To find someone who connected with him not only intellectually and emotionally but also physically. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

When he heard a soft moan, his hands began to slide down the side of her body, stopping at her hips, caressing them gently. He knew she was enjoying the added sensation of his touch as her hands got lost in his hair and began to slowly pull while his tongue softly licked up the side of her neck. His lips met hers again and this time with no hesitation or trepidation. All passion. He could taste the red wine on her tongue that she drank before the match-up ceremony, and it never tasted better. 

Slowly, their bodies grew more heated by the contact. Her hands were now gripping his back as if she wanted to remove his shirt and his were lifting her tight red dress up to her waist, moving his hands to her underwear covered ass and pulling her towards his middle, eliciting another moan from both of them while their tongues glided together sensually.

Raquel was growing more and more lost in his touch. She’d never been kissed so thoroughly with her pleasure in mind. The softness of his lips, the way he let her show him what she liked, and how he took this time to get to know her left her completely spellbound. She knew there was a special connection between them, but feeling it manifest into desire was unlike anything she’d ever experienced with other partners. It was, for lack of a better word, fireworks.

Wanting a better angle, Sergio lifted Raquel in his arms, encouraging her to wrap her legs around him while her back was still against the tree. Her hands were back in his hair while his were gripping her ass to keep her steady. Having their lips at level height allowed them to kiss even more deeply, inspiring even more moans and sighs from the two.

Before they could get completely lost in each other, they heard the sound of a voice in the distance. Stopping their kiss abruptly, Sergio sofly lowered Raquel back to the ground where she quickly moved her dress back down over her hips.

The two began to laugh over how ridiculous they looked - her hair a mess, lipstick all over her mouth, and her dress wrinkled. Sergio wasn’t fairing better with red stained lips, messy hair and his perfectly ironed and tucked shirt all bunched up over his belt.

“We should go back in before they notice we’re gone,” Raquel said regretfully.

“Yeah,” he sighed while smoothing his hair and re-tucking his shirt back into his pants.

“You have some lipstick…” she commented, laughing slightly when he tried to wipe it with his hands but it didn’t budge. She licked two of her fingers sensually and rubbed them over his lips to remove the red stains.

“Don’t do that,” he moaned at the contact of her wet fingers over her lips, wanting to take her back in his arms and against the tree again.

“Sorry,” she laughed but clearly didn’t mean it. 

“I guess we should go…” Sergio said but made no effort to move his feet.

“Yeah,” she sighed and brought his lips to hers for one final kiss - just a quick brush of the lips to show him how much she appreciated this moment.

With his forehead on hers, he looked into her eyes in an attempt to convey just how special this moment was for him too. “I hope I’ve made my point clear....” he stated, referring to their earlier argument about her being shocked he’d picked her in the match-up ceremony.

“Very clear,” Raquel grinned, bringing her hands up to caress his cheeks softly. “And thank you for that.”

When they heard more voices from producers on the front lawn, they knew their moment of “no-camera” privacy was ending. Raquel grabbed his hand in hers, leading him back to the house not yet ready to lose contact. When she opened the door, they let go of each other’s hands reluctantly, suddenly missing the contact but not being ready for the eyes of 12 others on them when they still haven’t yet fully defined what this was between them.

“You go in first,” Raquel suggested, “I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

He nodded and walked towards the group who were celebrating their successes in the kitchen, leaving Raquel on her own to think about what had just happened.

She walked to the nearest bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. She could see her lipstick was slightly smudged and decided to take it off completely but what surprised her more was how happy she looked. She thought back to the moment Sergio pushed her against the tree, and her heart began to race. She knew this was uncharted territory for him. She knew he wasn’t used to being so vulnerable in front of someone. She knew he’d likely never been pushed to make the first move and yet there was something about her that broke down those barriers for him. It made her feel special.

She’d given up on the idea of loving someone again. After the end of her marriage, she’d grown content with being a mother and daughter. In being the lead inspector. It had all become enough for her. The satisfaction of feeling like her life had purpose with her job and the love she felt for her family. She’d been blessed. Her heart, though still in pieces from the damage left by Alberto, was healing as she was rediscovering her own autonomy. By becoming Raquel Murillo again.

But this? This awakened something in her that she’d thought was dead - a past memory that she thought she no longer needed. The desire to be loved by someone again. To be consumed by passion, lust and hunger. And who knew an awkward professor who claimed love was weakness could kiss LIKE THAT? She wondered if he’d felt her nipples harden or the heat from her sex when her legs were around him. She knew she could feel his erection beginning to grow before they were interrupted. Had they not been, she may have let him take her on that tree. Was he ready for more? Would it be too fast to grab him by the tie and drag him to the bedroom now? Should they wait? So many questions swirled in her head, but her body was craving more, and she was struggling to fight it. He opened Pandora’s Box by kissing her tonight.

After a respectable five minutes, Raquel walked out of the bathroom and towards the group gathered in the kitchen and living room. No loud music tonight. Everyone was happy to have a slower night of conversation and getting to know each other. There was a positive vibe in the house, and Raquel was thankful for it.

Alicia spotted her as she entered the kitchen to grab a glass of red wine. “Where have you been?” 

“I wasn’t feeling too well after the match-up ceremony - a bit of indigestion…” Raquel lied, rubbing her stomach for emphasis.

“Hmm..” Alicia looked at her suspiciously.

Raquel, not wanting to give Alicia the opportunity to interrogate her, grabbed a glass of red wine and a small piece of chocolate before walking towards the larger group sitting on the couch, including Monica, Daniel, Helsinki, Julia, Sofia, Silene, Agata and Anibal.

“Raquel!” Silene grinned when she saw her sit sext to Julia on the couch. “We’ve been arguing over the best song to get it on to…”

“Oh boy,” Raquel laughed, taking a sip of her wine to hide her embarrassment at the conversation, especially since this was the last topic she wanted to discuss while her body was still cooling down after her rendezvous with Sergio.

“It’s no argument,” Alicia rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the arm of the couch next to Agata, “Darling Nikki by Prince.”

“Never heard of it,” Silene shook her head, dismissing the option.

Raquel laughed at the choice. Only Alicia would get off to that song. It was racy but also erratic just like her.

“I’m going with Sex with Me by Rihanna because we all know everyone in this room wants it,” Silene smirked, sitting back on the floor by the coffee table.

Monica rolled her eyes playfully, “Mine would be Drunk in Love by Beyonce.”

“Beyonce! Good choice,” Silene grinned, lifting her beer to air cheers with Monica before taking a sip.

“That song is really sexy,” Daniel agreed. “Maybe we can…”

“Raquel,” Monica interrupted him, not wanting to be propositioned in front of the large group of people, “What’s your pick?”

“I’m not sure-”

“Pleasssssse! Even the nerdy professor had one,” Alicia begged, curious over what her choice would be. She felt the song choice said a lot about how adventurous someone was.

Raquel’s face scrunched in confusion, “He did?”

“Of course it was some lame classical composer,” she rolled her eyes.

Sergio chose that moment to walk in the room from just outside to defend his selection. “Widor is not lame. The whole second movement of The Piano Quartet is … erotic.” He coughed the last word while looking in Raquel’s direction.

Raquel looked up at him, trying to hold back the desire she felt by his presence but the second he said “erotic” she could feel her hunger for him grow even stronger.

“The professor said erotic,” Daniel laughed, his signature chuckle inspiring the rest of the group to join him.

Raquel, looking anywhere but at Sergio, commented, “I can see it. The rise and fall of the piano, violin….the crescendo being a lot like making love and could set a beautiful pace,” she blushed, thinking about how sexy it would be to do this with Sergio. Right now. 

Sergio could feel the blood rushing to his crotch when she said the word crescendo. She understood his thinking which made her even sexier - as if that were possible. He couldn’t believe how ardently he desired her.

“Nothing compares to Pyramids by Frank Ocean,” Agata interrupted, completely missing the sexual tension between the two.

“Yes!” Silene agreed, “I could fuck to that song all night long. What song can you fuck to all night, Raquel? You still haven’t shared…”

Raquel looked at Sergio, thinking about how much she’d rather be fucking him right now than talking about music. When she saw the desire mirrored back in his eyes, she could feel the heat building up to her cheeks. Why did they have to be stuck in a house filled with people? She shook those thoughts out of her mind and shared the first song that came to mind when she joined the conversation.

“No Ordinary Love by Sade,” She revealed, tearing her eyes away from Sergio to hide how affected she was by this conversation.

“Good choice!” Monica approved. “Her voice can get me in the mood any day…”

“Is that right?” Daniel smirked suddenly wishing he had his phone to play her that song.

“A little slow for my taste,” Alicia pouted, disappointed. “I thought you were a little kinkier than that.”

Raquel shrugged, “You’ll never know.”

“A damn shame,” Alicia shook her head.

The group continued to argue for a few more minutes about what the ‘sexiest’ songs were before breaking off into smaller groups - a few in the hot tub, some sitting by the pool, others around the house. Raquel walked into the kitchen to put her empty glass of wine in the sink and was instantly greeted by Sergio.

“Hi,” he smiled.

“Hi,” she grinned back while rinsing her glass. She looked around to see if anyone was watching them before taking his hand in hers. “I’m going to head to bed,” she whispered suggestively,

Sergio’s heart rate increased at her tone, “I am feeling pretty tired,” he said in a thick voice, intimating that he felt anything but.

“So tired,” she agreed, lacing their fingers together and looking at their hands joined together.

“It’s been such a long day,” Sergio faked a yawn.

“I’m going to go now,” she whispered while reluctantly breaking contact with him. “Don’t keep me waiting too long…”

With one final wink, she walked away leaving him completely consumed by his own need for her. He’d been attracted to her from the beginning, but the impact that holding hands or hearing her whispers had on his body after knowing what it felt like to kiss her left him speechless. She had him completely undone and for the first time in his life, he didn’t want to fight this.

“Looks like things are better with you and Raquel,” Martin commented behind him only just witnessing her smiling at him while leaving the room.

“Yeah,” he nodded. 

“So you finally told her how you feel?”

Sergio thought about this for a moment realizing he hadn’t yet told her in words, but he hoped she now knew, “Not in so many words…” he admitted honestly.

“Oh Sergio,” Martin sighed, “Don’t fuck this up.”

“I’m trying not to,” he replied. “I want to be better for her.”

“Good,” he smiled, grabbing a glass of wine. “Alicia is waiting for me, but just remember what I said. You deserve this too.”

Sergio smiled, thankful for the first time that Andres had put Martin in this house with him. He was understanding now that his intention was to have his friend look out for him. At the beginning, he would have argued it wasn’t necessary, but he never expected this game to completely change his view on love and relationships. He never expected his heart to become consumed by someone else. Suddenly, having an ally here, no matter how much of a jerk he knew Martin could be, didn’t seem so bad. He knew he needed it.

* * *

Raquel sat on her bed nervously, thinking about what she had suggested to Sergio downstairs. Was she ready for this? She hadn’t been intimate with anyone since Alberto, and that had been years ago as she’d spent the last year of their marriage avoiding him. It had been so long since she’d been with someone who seemed to care about her own pleasure. If the way Sergio kissed her was a hint for what was to come, she knew it would be special between them. But opening herself up to someone new was a big step. Not one she ever expected she’d want to take while playing this game. With cameras in every room.

As she ran through all of the pros and cons of whether or not to be intimate with Sergio tonight, he walked into the room smiling when he saw her in sleep shorts and the Pink Floyd t-shirt that he loved on her. His eyes shined with adoration and suddenly all of her fears washed away. This felt right.

As she stood up, he walked right up to her, gathering her in his arms and kissing her for the first time since they’d been outside. Quickly, the passion erupted between them and his hands here lost in her hair while hers were pulling at the shirt around his waist. Their tongues played together roughly, getting lost in the feel of each other. Raquel nibbled on his lower lip, lightly pulling it between her teeth as they broke apart gasping for air.

“Did you want to...?” she panted, trying to catch her breath after such a powerful kiss.

“Yes,” he breathed, “But we should make it like we’re sleeping in our beds first…”

“Good idea,” she smiled as the two gathered pillows and clothes under their blankets to look like they were both sound asleep in bed before running to the infamous ‘boom boom room’ which was luckily empty and smelled freshly cleaned.

Raquel closed the door behind them, locking it. As soon as Sergio heard the click, his lips were back on hers, kissing her sensually this time. Taking his time to enjoy the feeling of her lips locked in with his before slowly running his tongue along her lower lip to meet hers again while they thoroughly kissed each other.

“You’re an amazing kisser,” Raquel whispered between kisses. 

In response, Sergio lifted her in his arms and walked her to the bed, placing her on top of covers. “You’re so beautiful,” he said while catching his breath, completely in awe that this woman wanted him in the same way he desired her.

She pulled him on top of her, the two of them laying back on the bed kissing again. They were completely consumed by the feel of each other’s lips, the sensations when their tongues met and how they both tasted of red wine and dark chocolate.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Sergio asked, ending the kiss to move his body next to hers and place a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

Raquel nodded, grinning, touched that he wanted to make sure that she was comfortable. 

He looked around the room to see a few cameras in the corners of the rooms facing the bed.  _ Shit. _

“They put cameras in here,” he revealed in frustration.

Raquel got up from the bed and pulled the covers back, “Get in with me,” she instructed and he quickly got up and pulled the blankets back with her. 

“But the world will see…” he commented, embarrassed by the idea that there would be people looking at this footage.

She ran over to the door and turned off the lights, “If you’re not comfortable, we can just sleep,” she offered while getting into bed.

“Are you sure?” he asked reluctantly, hating that his own shyness was ruining what could have been a magical night together.

“Of course,” she assured him, trying to mask the frustration and disappointment in her voice.

He removed his pants and unbuttoned his shirt, leaving him in his boxers and a white t-shirt. This was an improvement of those ridiculous pajamas at least, Raquel thought.

Once they were both in bed under the covers, he pulled her body to his, spooning her from behind - a position they’d gotten familiar with; however, this time, she instantly felt his erection. He was just as turned on as she was. She could work with this, she grinned to herself. Slowly and deliberately, she positioned herself closer to him, rubbing his erection lightly with her ass a few times enjoying his soft moans every time she made contact with him.

In response, she soon felt wet kisses on the side of her neck while his hands began to wander under her t-shirt rubbing her bare stomach.

“Sergio,” she moaned. “I thought we were just sleeping…” she grinned, playfully.

His hand wandered up to her right breast and cupped it while running his tongue along the side of her neck, eliciting another moan from her. 

“You’re playing with fire,” she whispered as his fingers ran across her hard nipple under her shirt.

He still said nothing as his hand slowly moved down her stomach and into her shorts. She closed her eyes in anticipation when his fingers found her core, running two fingers over her slit and feeling her desire for him. “You’re so wet,” he whispered in her ear before leaving a kiss on it.

“Please don’t tease me,” she moaned while his fingers moved in slow circles on her clit, exploring her folds gently. It was just enough to make her go crazy. 

“Fuck the cameras,” he whispered, moving the cover over their heads with his other hand to shield their bodies. He removed his hand from her shorts, positioned her on her back and moved his body over hers to find her lips, kissing her again for a few seconds. He moved his mouth to her neck once again, loving that he found the spot that made her whimper. He kept moving down, lifting her shirt over her breasts as he kissed from her stomach up to the space between her breasts. She was growing more and more restless with every touch.

“Sergio,” she whispered when his mouth found her nipple and kissed it gently before running his tongue around it.

Her breathing grew more erratic when his mouth mirrored the same affection on her other breast. It’d been too long, she thought while pleasure shot through her entire body when he sucked on her nipple.

Soon he was kissing down her stomach again to the waistband of her shorts. He grinned when he heard a soft squeak from her, loving the way her body was reacting to his touches. He slowly removed her shorts, lifting the cover next to him to throw them on the floor. Her legs instantly spread for him, showing him just how much she wanted him.

Not wasting a second, his lips were on her inner thigh, slowly kissing up to where he knew she wanted his mouth the most.

“Sergio, please,” he heard her beg when his mouth was inches from her. He’d only done this once before, but he’d never felt this need to taste someone. To feel someone cum on his mouth. This was new for him, but he was relishing in following his instincts rather than getting lost in his own mind - the very reason why it was always a challenge to enjoy sex in the past.

Tentatively, he licked along her slit, tasting her for the first time. She tasted mildly sweet with a hint of something salty, and it was completely intoxicating. She began to moan louder as he ran his tongue up her clit, licking her like an ice cream cone to tease her a few times.

“Yesss...” she moaned every time his tongue made contact with her. Soon, his mouth was over her as he licked and sucked, slowly at first and then gaining speed as her body reacted more and more positively to his tongue. He could feel her beginning to lose control as her hands made their way on his hair, pushing him deeper into her slightly humping his mouth as she got closer to completely unravelling.

They were completely lost in each other. There were no cameras. No 12 other contestants living with them. No TV show. Just them hidden in the cocoon of this blanket consumed by her pleasure.

**/ /**

Alicia and Silene laughed drunkenly as they made their way to the boom boom room ready to have a little bit of fun. Alicia’s hand went to open the door knob only to discover it was locked.

“It’s locked,” she whispered in shock. It was never locked. Most of the morons in this house weren’t taking advantage of it

“What?!” Silene questioned, disappointed. “How is that possible?”

Alicia put her ear up to the door to hear loud groans coming from a female voice, but she couldn't recognize it. “Sounds like whoever is in there is having a lot of fun,” she grinned.

“Let me listen,” Silene demanded as the two put their ears on the door to tear a few loud and slow moans coming from the same voice followed by a long  _ “yessssssssss” _

“I think she just came…” Silene grinned. “And hard! I can hear her trying to catch her breath.”

“Who could it be?” Alicia asked, trying to think about all of the potential pairings that could be in there right now.

“No idea, but I’m jealous.” Silene pouted, moving her head from the door when she could only hear silence. 

“Shower?” Alicia suggested as an alternative.

“Let’s go. I’m suddenly  _ really _ horny,” Silene smirked.

When the two walked by the dark bedroom, they saw the outlines of Raquel and Sergio sleeping in their beds. “God, they’re so boring,” Alicia commented while the two women rushed to the washroom.

**/ /**

Raquel sighed in happiness after experiencing her most powerful orgasm in years. She forgot how good it can be when it wasn’t her own hand or a toy. What an unexpected surprise that the seemingly stuffy professor had a magical tongue.

Sergio continued feather her inner thigh with kisses in an attempt to catch his breath after what could only be described as one of his most erotic experiences to date. The feeling of Raquel Murillo cumming on his mouth was nearly euphoric, especially coupled with the sounds she was making for  _ him.  _

“Come here,” she whispered, pulling him back up to her and kissing him passionately as a way of thanking him. She could feel the familiar tingles when she tasted herself on his tongue and savoured in it for a few minutes while regaining her energy after that body numbing orgasm. 

Once she felt like she could function again, she rolled him over in one quick motion, positioning herself on top while never breaking the kiss.

Following a similar pattern as he did, she began to kiss down his neck while positioning her wet centre over his achingly hard erection that was still covered by his boxers. She rubbed herself over it a couple of times, inspiring a few low moans from him as he was beginning to get lost in the feeling of her body moving sensually over his.

She sat up for a moment to remove her shirt and then quickly moved her hands to the hem of his shirt encouraging him to do the same. Once he was shirtless, she began to kiss down his chest seductively while occasionally looking him in the eye with a smirk.

He couldn’t help but smile when her eyes met his, loving how playful she was. And it brought him to much joy that he could bring this side out of her. 

“Your chest is perfect,” she gushed while running her hands over his pecks sensually. “If I knew this was what you were hiding under all those suits, I’d have been doing this weeks ago.”

He laughed, “If I had known that, I’d have started walking around shirtless…”

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes playfully and moved back down to lick around his nipples, eliciting a soft moan from him and noting that he got some pleasure from this. She continued to leave wet kisses down his chest and stomach as she moved her mouth closer to where she knew he yearned for some attention. She could feel just how hard he was against her and was looking forward to finally seeing all of him for the first time. She expected more shyness from him, but for some reason all of their hesitations and fears seemed to vanish when they were in close contact with each other. It was refreshing how this felt so natural for both of them.

She hesitated when her hands were on the waistband of his boxers, “Is this okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he responded in anticipation. She quickly slid his boxers down, freeing his very hard cock and marveled over how beautiful it was. And she rarely felt that way over the male anatomy, but for some reason, she felt that way about him and it thrilled her to be so consumed by attraction. 

She took him in her hand slowly, at first, feeling the tip and then moving her fingers down his length. 

Sergio struggled to hold in his groans over how amazing it felt to have her delicate hands exploring him so carefully yet with purpose. She knew what she was doing and what motions could bring him the most pleasure.

“Raquel,” he moaned when suddenly feeling a light kiss on his tip. His moans got louder when her tongue licked around the head. “Ohhhhhhh…” he sighed.

“You like that?” she grinned.

“Don’t stop,” he replied between breaths, unable to think. He, the professor, had lost the ability to use his mind. What was she doing to him?

She moved her mouth up and down a few times, taking as much of him as she could while alternating the pace from slow to fast to tease him. When she felt his hands in her hair, she looked up to see that his eyes were closed, completely lost in the feeling of fucking her mouth. 

She was loving the effect she had on him as she licked down his length one last time before sitting back up. 

He smiled up at her adoringly, “Do we need protection?”

“I have an IUD,” she smiled, positing herself over his erection and rubbing her wetness against it a few times. They both moaned at the contact.

“You’re so sexy,” he whispered when he felt her slit opening along the length of him as she slowly moved her hips, teasing him. 

She grinned, loving that she had discovered this whole new side to the professor. She gently took him in her hand and positioned him at her entrance. While she slid down on him, they both closed their eyes savouring the feel of this new connection between them. They remained still for a few seconds, sighing over how good it felt - the way her wetness and heat suctioned around him and the way he filled her. 

Raquel began to slowly move her hips, riding him sensually at first, their breaths getting shallower as their bodies worked together to find a steady rhythm. His hands moved to her hips to help her thrust into him while hers moved to her breasts. “Ohh yessss” she whispered.

“Fuck…” he groaned when she started moving faster and deeper. He met her thrust for thrust, getting completely lost in the feeling of being inside of her. They were quickly losing control as their bodies were succumbing to the pleasure they felt as they got closer to orgasm.

When Raquel sensed Sergio was getting close, she moved his hand to her clit, encouraging him to rub it. “Right there,” she guided when his fingers found the exact spot she needed to be touched.

Once Sergio felt her body begin to shake with her second orgasm of the night, he let himself go as well, both of them groaning loudly when pleasure overtook their bodies.

“Wow,” she breathed again, sliding herself off of his now limp cock and laying her body over his with her head in the crook of his neck. 

Sergio moved the comforter off of their heads, relieved to be breathing “fresh air” and put his arms around her, running his fingers along her back. It amazed him what they managed to do hidden under a blanket without completely suffocating. He had been so consumed by her, he didn’t even realize how hot and stuffy it was.

Raquel suddenly began laughing, “I can’t believe we just did that under a blanket.”

Sergio quickly joined in, “In a room filled with cameras.”

Raquel groaned, “Fuck, don’t remind me. What if my mom sees this?”

“And my brother,” Sergio went white. His brother could get access to this footage. And knowing Andres, he would be asking for copies to blackmail him with.

“Do you regret it?” She asked worriedly.

He kissed the top of her head tenderly and smiled while continuing to run his fingers up and down her back, “Not at all.” 

“Good,” she breathed a sigh of relief.

“We should probably get out of here before everyone starts going to bed.”

Raquel held onto him tighter in response, “I’m sooo comfortable,” she whined. “But you’re right…”

They both reluctantly broke contact and found their clothes on the floor, slipping their shirts and shorts on quickly. When they were decent, Raquel turned the light on to make the bed before they peeked into the hallway making sure it was clear. They ran down the hall to the communal bedroom, sighing in relief when it was empty. It looks like they’d managed to avoid the prying eyes of their fellow contestants.

When Raquel began to move towards her bed, Sergio grabbed her hand, “Where are you going?”

“To bed,” she responded as if it were the most obvious thing.

“All the way over there?” he asked shyly.

“I thought you may want your own space after…”

He pulled her hand, turning her towards him and kissed her softly on the lips. Quickly, they both could feel that familiar passion growing between them when her mouth opened and their tongues met in a familiar dance. 

She broke the kiss, smiling at him, “You’ve convinced me.”

He laughed, loving that he was beginning to master a new way of communicating with her. Raquel lifted his covers and moved the pillows up to get in closer to the wall, reclaiming the same space she’d slept in the first night they spent together.

He got in next to her, turning onto his side to hug her closer to him, their bodies facing each other. He couldn't stop himself from kissing her again, growing more and more addicted to the feeling of her lips on his. They kissed slowly, lazily and messily, enjoying the afterglow of such a wonderful night.

She broke away from him, smiling when she saw adoration and desire in his eyes. She could feel herself falling deeper and deeper for him.

In order to get comfortable, he rolled onto his back and brought her closer, encouraging her to lay her head on his chest as she got cozy on the small mattress in his arms. They relished in this newfound intimacy as they snuggled closer together.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a few minutes of silence.

“Sorry?” She asked, confused over what he could be talking about. For what they just did? There was nothing to apologize for. 

“For avoiding you this week,” he admitted. “I was so embarrassed that I’d been so pushy with you at the retreat that I didn’t realise it seemed like I didn’t want to be with you…”

“Oh,” Raquel nodded sadly, “I thought maybe I got too close…or that you regretted…”

“No,” Sergio quickly corrected; his tone a reassuring whisper.

“And then you ran away when I was going to kiss you…”

“I wanted to kiss you,” he admitted, “but the moment it was about to happen, I realized I wanted more than a dare or a drunken night with you, and it scared me. I’ve never felt like this before…”

“Like what?” Raquel smiled, tilting her head up to look into his eyes.

Sergio blushed when he noticed her staring, unsure of how to put what he was feeling into words, but he tried, “Like I’m alive for the first time in my life…”

Raquel blushed over the implication, “Sergio,” she laughed to cover the butterflies she felt, “You’ve already had me tonight. You don’t have to try to win me over.”

“It’s true,” he replied, completely seriously. “I wasn’t expecting this. I wasn’t planning for this to happen…”

“And you plan for everything?” She laughed teasingly.

“Let’s just say all of my clothes are labeled by the day of the week in my closet right now,” he confessed, causing them both to laugh.

Raquel gave him a quick kiss on the lips and looked into his eyes, “I didn’t think I’d find this again either. And I don’t just mean in this game.”

Sergio chuckled over how ridiculous this was, “We both came into this game expecting we’d…”

“Never hook up with anyone?” Raquel finished, laughing with him.

“Yeah,” he breathed, his voice thick with how deeply he felt for the woman in his arms. How was it possible that they’d only met weeks ago? He felt like he’d known her for years by the way he felt so completely comfortable in her presence.

After talking aimlessly for another few minutes, they heard voices in the hall of people getting ready for bed. Sergio quickly pulled the blanket over them, hugged her body closer to him and let himself succumb to sleep with her head resting on his chest. For the first time in years, the two of them fell asleep smiling and feeling completely at peace— a new sense of intimacy that neither realized they had been yearning for. 

* * *

Raquel walked into the kitchen the next morning doing her best to hide a smile she kept fighting every few minutes when she reflected on the previous night with Sergio and how nice it felt to wake up in his arms again just hours ago.

“Why are you in a good mood?” Alicia asked while observing Raquel happily making herself a cup of coffee and adding some extra sugar to it.

“No reason,” Raquel shrugged, doing her best to avoid making eye contact, “I slept well for once and it’s a beautiful day...:” She grabbed some fruit and yogurt from the breakfast buffet production provided and took a seat at the table with Daniel, Agata, Alicia and Silene.

“Ok…” Alicia responded skeptically, sensing there was something different about her friend but couldn’t figure out what it was. What she did know was that she would get to the bottom of this.

“Did you all hear?” Silene asked, her eyes shining with excitement, “There was a new couple in the boom boom room last night.”

Raquel nearly coughed in her mug when Silene revealed the latest gossip and suddenly could feel dread in the pit of her stomach. Did they know?

When Silene’s eyes went to Daniel, Raquel felt a glimmer of hope, “Hey, don’t look at me!” he protested. “I’ve been trying to convince Monica for the past week but she wants to take things slow.” 

Raquel could hear the frustration in his voice over the lack of a physical connection with Monica, but she knew her friend wasn’t ready yet. “You better not be pressuring her,” she warned.

“Me?!” He looked around as if she had said the most offensive thing. “I would never. I’m just worried my balls will get so blue they’ll fall off…”

“Ew, gross!” Silene laughed, throwing a piece of her cereal at him. 

“Not all of us have a fuck buddy in here,” he looked pointedly at Silene and Alicia. 

“How is it that my problem?” Alicia asked, annoyed by the insinuation, “Go put your dick in a jar of mayonnaise if it’s that bad.”

“Ewwww!” Agata groaned, “Some of us are trying to eat…”

“This doesn’t solve who was in the boom boom room last night…” Silene commented. Raquel attempted to hold in her frustration as she hoped they’d moved on from this.

“You know it wasn’t me,” Agata whined, frustrated by the lack of contact she’d had with anyone since entering this house. 

“Ohh Aggy,” Silene soothed. “We need to find you a good partner.”

“Speaking of good partners,” Alicia interrupted. “Whoever was in that room last night was having a good time. Even Silene can’t get me moaning like that…”

Raquel, again, used her coffee mug to shield the others from seeing her blush. She was completely mortified over the revelation that they overheard her with Sergio.

Sergio, of course, chose this moment to walk into the kitchen looking freshly showered in a pair of beige linen pants and a white short-sleeved button up shirt. Of course, he had to look so fucking sexy right now, Raquel grumbled to herself. The world was against her today.

“I’d be offended, but I wanted to ask for pointers,” Silene smiled. “Who knew we had some kinky people in here…”

Sergio coughed while taking a bite of a muffin when he overheard Silene’s comment. When he saw Raquel’s face hidden in her mug, he wondered if they knew…

“Join us, Sergio,” Silene smiled gesturing to the empty seat across from Raquel, “We were trying to figure out who the mystery couple in the boom boom room was last night.”

Sergio suddenly understood why Raquel looked like she wanted to crawl into her mug, “Couple in the boom boom room?” he asked dumbly, trying to bluff his way through this.

“Apparently they were super loud and now Silene wants tips,” Agata summarized, taking a large bite of her cereal. 

Sergio choked on his coffee over the revelation that some people in the house overheard what was supposed to be a private moment between them… Private but with cameras pointing at the bed, he groaned internally.. How had he forgotten people would be intrusive and listen outside the door? 

“Oh no, we broke the professor,” Daniel laughed.

“Why does it matter who it was?” Raquel asked, finally finding her voice. “It’s not really our business, is it?”

“Of course it’s our business,” Silene countered, “We’re all trying to win this game together. If there’s a new couple, we all deserve to know.”

“She does have a point,” Alicia nodded. “Add to that, I’m nosy and I want to know!” 

“We know it was a woman because I’m pretty sure we heard her orgasm,” Silene revealed, while thinking back to everything she heard. “And it sounded like a gooooood one…”

Sergio couldn’t help the smile that formed as he watched Raquel growing more embarrassed while they continued to divulge what they heard last night. He hated that they were being discussed, but he couldn’t help but feel proud that he had confirmation he made her feel really goooooood, as Silene put it.

Raquel glared at Sergio when she saw him smirking proudly at himself. Why wasn’t he joining her in being completely embarrassed they’d been overheard? Jerk.

“Maybe whoever it was will share when they’re ready,” Daniel offered, starting to get annoyed by the constant focus on the couple having sex when it clearly wasn’t him.

“Sergio,” Silene addressed him, “You share a wall with the boom boom room, did you hear anything last night?”

“Uhh… no, I can’t say I did.”

“Damn,” she sighed, disappointed that no one had any information on who it was. It was killing her.

“I’m surprised you and Raquel were able to sleep through it,” Alicia remarked, suspicious by their body language. No, it couldn’t be…

“I wasn’t feeling well last night,” Raquel reminded her.

“Right… that pesky indigestion that wiped your lipstick right off..”

“What are you implying?” Raquel demanded defensively. 

“Nothing,” she responded innocently, “Nothing at all.”

Raquel, having enough of this conversation, grabbed her empty plate and mug. “I’m going to go sit outside,” she announced to the table and left the room after placing her dishes in the dishwasher.

She settled on a secluded canopy with a direct view of the ocean that was out of view from the others in the house. Once alone, she let out a deep breath to release all of the tension she felt during that conversation. The first time she’d had sex in years, and she was at the centre of gossip in a house filled with prying horny idiots. Just what she needed.

“Hey,” Sergio greeted a few minutes, “That was awkward…” he laughed while taking a seat next to her.

“What are the chances someone else went in after us and that’s what they heard?” she asked while putting her face in her hands, wishing she could grab a boat and sail in any direction.

“Not likely.”

“Fuck…”

“They don’t know it was us,” He reassured her.

“Yet,” she finished for him. “And it wasn’t you they heard…” she groaned, getting even more red just thinking about it.

He began to smile in response.

“Don’t do that,” she warned him.

“Do what?” 

“Look proud of yourself! Where’s the shy and embarrassed professor who nearly tripped over himself when someone said the word sex? Bring him back…”

Sergio sat closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and urging her to lean into him. “He just had the best night of his life,” he whispered. The honesty of his words were staggering. 

“Fuck,” she breathed, touched by how sweet he was with her. “You weren’t supposed to say that…”

“Why?” he asked, confused over whether he’d made her uncomfortable. He was trying to be more open with her and honest with his feelings for once, but he worried he was coming on too strong.

“Because I was trying to be mad at you and now all I want to do is kiss you,” she grumbled, annoyed over how easily he could transport her back to 15 year old Raquel who was hearing a boy tell her she was pretty for the first time. 

“Sorry?” He laughed, amused by how adorable she was.

“You should be,” she pouted, leaning closer to him to capture his lips with hers in a sweet kiss.

As soon as her lips touched his, however, he felt the familiar fire between them intensify and deepened the kiss as if it was the most natural thing to do. Needing to be even closer, she moved on his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist. This new position pushed them to get even bolder - mouths opened wide, tongues openly rubbing against each other, her hands lost in his hair and his rubbing her back. 

Only the sounds of the waves crashing, birds squawking and their heavy breathing could be heard as the two got more and more lost in their newfound attraction. 

“I knew it!” a voice interrupted.

Sergio and Raquel quickly broke apart to see Alicia smiling at them victoriously. She had just solved the mystery everyone was still arguing over in the house. 

Raquel frowned over the fact that her undefined connection with Sergio was no longer their little secret. They got barely 12 hours together...and now they were about to be thrown to the wolves. _Fucking hell_.

_**[cheesy voiceover]** Oh no, Alicia just discovered our favourite couple! What will happen when she tells everyone else?And will Daniel have some alone time with some mayonnaise? Find out in the next chapters of Perfect Match..._


	8. Love Bubble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ALL for your support of this fanfic. I love reading the comments, tweets, and messages from you. It really does inspire me to both keep writing and to try and be better as I'm still fairly new to the world of creative writing. And even if you don't comment, I appreciate you just taking the time to read this crazy wild ride of a story.
> 
> I'm SO sorry this has taken me so long to update. I had a couple of tough weeks personally, but I'm feeling better and hopefully I'll get back to my regular posting schedule.
> 
> This chapter is a bit all over the place (sorry in advance). I wanted to keep it light as I got myself back into writing after a dark week - so enjoy this random and fluffy time with our favourite idiots. :)

“I knew it!” a voice interrupted.

Sergio and Raquel quickly broke apart to see Alicia smiling at them victoriously. She had just solved the mystery everyone was still arguing over in the house. 

Raquel frowned over the fact that her undefined connection with Sergio was no longer their little secret. They got barely 12 hours together, and now they were about to be thrown to the wolves. _Fucking hell._

Raquel moved off of Sergio’s lap to stand in front of Alicia who was staring at the two amused over how annoyed they were to be interrupted.

“Know what, exactly?” Raquel asked as she smoothed out her hair that Sergio’s hands had just been playing in.

Alicia looked at her incredulously, “You’re really going to play dumb right now when I caught you two practically humping each other?”

“We weren’t-” Sergio quickly denied, adjusting his glasses mortified over what Alicia had just witnessed.

Alicia rolled her eyes at Sergio, “If not, why don’t you uncross your legs right now?” she challenged as she watched Sergio shifting uncomfortably on the day bed.

“Okay, fine,” Raquel stopped her, saving Sergio from further embarrassment. “Yes, it was me and Sergio last night…”

Alicia nodded, taking it all in for a moment. “So last night, you were faking it right? There was no way he-”

Raquel smirked in response.

“No…that’s not possible.” Alicia looked at the professor and back to Raquel who shrugged.

“Oh come on!” Sergio groaned from behind them, wishing this conversation would end.

“I didn’t think you had it in you, professor,” Alicia commented in disbelief, “Full offense.”

Sergio rolled his eyes in annoyance. He’d blocked out the fact that he and Raquel would have to deal with the scrutiny from this entire house. This was his new version of hell.

“Can you please keep this to yourself for a bit?” Raquel asked as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“What’s in it for me?” Alicia asked. “This is the biggest thing to happen in this house since… ever. I can’t be expected to keep this a secret without…”

“Without what?” Raquel rolled her eyes.

“A little something to thank me for not talking…”

“What do you want?” Raquel asked.

“Can I watch?” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“No,” Raquel quickly denied.

“But I need to know how he got you to…”

“No, you don’t,” Sergio interrupted, standing up and walking over to Raquel.

“Too easy,” Alicia laughed. “You both have sucked at keeping it a secret anyway that I give you both another 12 hours until everyone knows…”

“So, you won’t tell anyone?” Raquel confirmed again, knowing she needed Alicia to agree explicitly.

“I’ll think about,” she shrugged while turning back to the house and walking away from the couple.

“She’s going to tell them,” Raquel frowned at Sergio whose eyes were on the grass in front of him. He was still in agony over the entire exchange between the two women. “Are you okay?”

Sergio’s eyes still on a small patch of dirt in front of him, awkwardly responded, “Yes, she’s--”

“A lot,” Raquel finished for him with a sardonic chuckle.

“Yes.”

* * *

Daniel opened the fridge door in search of an early morning snack before his daily work-out. When his eyes met a large jar of mayonnaise, he felt his body tense. He looked at the jar and then down to his crotch for a moment, “Fuck you, Alicia” he groaned, closing the door quickly in shame.

“Attention everyone!” Alicia announced while walking into the large living area where most of the fellow contestants were sitting around. “I have some important news.”

As she said the last line, Sergio and Raquel walked in the house anxiously. _She couldn’t even last one minute, Raquel grumbled to herself._

“I’ve just been told that our getaway competition is starting in about an hour, so the producers have asked us all to get ready while they set up the backyard,” She informed everyone.

Sergio sighed in relief over her news. They were safe for now. His eyes caught Raquel who had the same look of ease over the _“news”._

After the house groaned over Alicia’s message, hating these ridiculous competitions, Alicia looked at the couple behind her and smirked. “Oh, and by the way, it was these two in the boom boom room last night,” she pointed to Raquel and Sergio behind her.

Sergio, looking like he was about to implode internally, found the couch to lean on while Raquel stormed over to Alicia, “I thought you were going to keep quiet…”

“You didn’t give me a good enough incentive,” she shrugged innocently while leaving the rest of the contestants to digest the biggest news to hit the house since they started this game.

“You mean,” Silene laughed in shock, “it was _you two_ we heard last night?”

Raquel looked at Sergio who appeared to have just been struck by lightning with the way his body was vibrating and rolled her eyes, “Yes, it was me and Sergio last night. And to answer all of your questions I don’t feel like dealing with one-on-one: yes, it was good and no, we haven’t yet defined what it means. Anything to add, Sergio?” Raquel asked as his body was hunched over the couch in embarrassment over having so many people know about what happened last night.

“Nope, that about covers it,” he stuttered awkwardly as if his entire body was in pain.

When Raquel saw Silene beginning to open her mouth, she stopped her, “And no, none of you can join us.”

“Damn,” Silene pouted playfully. “But what I actually wanted to say is that I’m happy for you two idiots.”

“Yes, it’s about time!” Martin smirked, enjoying Sergio’s discomfort.

“WooooOOOooo!! I won the bet,” Helsinki cheered while looking at a piece of paper, “I chose yesterday on the calendar!”

“Nooooo!” Monica groaned, “I had today.”

“You had a bet on when we’d….??” Raquel asked, her tone filled with anger and confusion.

“I had the day we left the house with how much game you both lacked,” Silene frowned. “I underestimated you two…”

“I do have one question,” Julia asked, looking at the calendar. “Who made the first move? We were split…”

“It had to have been Raquel…” Silene responded.

“Actually…” Sergio stuttered in response before catching what he’d just revealed. _Shit._

“Nooooooo,” Silene grinned in shock. “PROFESSOR, you sly dog!”

Before Sergio or Raquel could respond, they were all told to leave the room to get ready for the getaway competition by one of the production assistants.

As everyone began to move out, Raquel walked over to Sergio who was still leaning on the couch, his knuckles white with how hard he’d been holding onto it during what he’d classify as his most embarrassing moment. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he sighed while attempting to stand to play off the heat he felt in his cheeks over the utter humiliation of the moment.

Her eyes softened over how stiff he was and grabbed his hand in hers comfortingly, walking him to the kitchen, “The worst is over for now…”

“I wish we’d have had more time…”

“Me too,” she smiled, pulling his body to hers in a hug. “Do you still have no regrets?” she laughed.

“None,” he assured her. “I may not like the prying eyes of everyone here or the fact we were a bet…”

“Don’t get me started on that,” Raquel rolled her eyes.

He pulled her in closer by wrapping his arms around her more tightly, savouring in the comfort of her warmth.

“This is not the most traditional way of meeting someone, is it? Us being in this house where our only stress is the reaction of the people who live here too… No work, families, friends…”

“I never liked ’traditional’ all that much…as you know,” Sergio grinned.

“And maybe ‘traditional’ was my problem…” she admitted while snuggling her head into his chest.

Sergio moved his head back to look her in the eyes which were shining with affection for him. He never knew the joy in having someone look at him like this before, and he now understood the addiction many had with this rush of endorphins. 

She moved her lips to his and kissed him softly at first and then increased the pressure as they two got lost in each other yet again. It felt like no matter the chaos that surrounded them, the moment they were in each other’s arms, nothing else in the world existed. It was their own bubble of happiness.

It didn't last long, however, when they heard someone clear their throat.

“Sorry,” Agata smiled awkwardly, “I was just getting some water…”

“Can we talk?” Raquel asked the younger woman as she broke away from Sergio.

When Agata nodded, Raquel turned back to Sergio, “How about you go and get ready while we talk?” she suggested.

Sensing that this wasn’t a conversation meant for him, Sergio simply nodded while grabbing her hand and squeezing it, “Of course,” he whispered before walking out of the room and leaving the two women on their own.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” Raquel apologized while leading the younger woman to the kitchen table.

“I knew it was coming,” Agata sighed, keeping her eyes on the table in an attempt to mask how hard this was on her. She hadn’t yet been able to completely turn off her feelings for Sergio even if she knew there wasn’t a future for them.

“Seems everyone else did but us…” Raquel grumbled, “I really didn’t come in here looking for this…”

“I know,” Agata assured her. “And you have no reason to be sorry. I was the one who treated you like shit when I knew you were struggling with your feelings for him.”

Raquel nodded in agreement, “You did, but I also didn’t realize how much my friendship with Sergio had been hurting you. I became defensive, and I should have talked to you about it.”

“We both messed up,” Agata smiled and then looked at Raquel with an amused expression, “Imagine we were the perfect match?”

“I wouldn’t put it past this show,” Raquel laughed while reaching for her hand. “I’m really happy to have my friend back.”

“Me too,” she smiled. “And for what it’s worth, I’m really happy for you and Sergio.”

“Thank you,” Raquel nodded, holding back tears over how grateful she was to have this conflict behind them.

“So… tell me how it happened,” Agata grinned. 

Raquel smiled in return, sharing the story of how Sergio had been avoiding her since their couples’ retreat, his reaction to the dare and finally their kiss after the last match-up ceremony.

“How was it?”

“Fireworks,” Raquel sighed happily, “It’s never been like this before.”

“Like what?”

“It’s like you’re listening to a song you already know you like and then there’s that one chord or note that gets your heart racing and you can’t help but close your eyes and get lost in it over and over again,” Raquel gushed.

“You have it bad,” Agata grinned over her how happy the woman in front of her was. When she first met her, she was all business when it came to the game and for the first time, she could see a new sense of freedom in how she was expressing herself. 

“I know,” Raquel put her face in her hands, “It’s ridiculous. He could ask me to uproot my whole life to some random island in Southeast Asia right now and I would...

“That’s oddly specific,” Agata laughed.

“Enough about me. How are you doing? Has anyone new been catching your eye?”

“I don’t know. I talked to Julia a bit last night, and she’s really nice but I can’t tell if there’s that spark or not…” She admitted.

“Keep getting to know her,” Raquel encouraged. 

“Contestants, please join Andres in the backyard for this week’s getaway competition in five minutes,” a PA yelled into the house.

“I guess it’s time for this week’s torture,” Raquel shook her head. “I’m really glad we talked.”

“Me too,” Agata smiled. “You’re amazing, Raquel… and if I didn’t think you were perfect for Sergio, I’d be on the long list of people who want you in this house.”

"There isn’t a long list…”

“Girl,” Agata stopped her, “You’re practically everyone’s dream girl.”

“You’re crazy,” Raquel laughed. “Come here,” she commanded as she pulled Agata in a hug.

“It’s true, I’m getting a little turned on right now,” Agata teased while holding the smaller woman tightly in her arms.

“Stop!” Raquel laughed, smacking her arm softly as they broke apart.

“Isn’t this sweet,” Alicia rolled her eyes while walking into the room.

“Want to join?” Agata teased.

“Gross,” she frowned.

“I’m going to go find Sergio,” Raquel announced, staring at Alicia pointedly, an irritated expression on her face.

“What did I do?” The redhead asked while she watched Raquel storm out of the room.

Agata shook her head, “Maybe next time don’t tell the whole house when someone had sex?”

“She’s mad about that?” Alicia scrunched her face. “It’s not like it was bad sex…”

“You don’t need me to spell this out for you, Alicia. You're smarter than this,” Agata replied while patting her on the shoulder and leaving the woman on her own to process what had just happened.

“I don’t appreciate being patronized!” she yelled into the distance. 

* * *

“Welcome to your next getaway challenge, contestants! I trust you’ve all been having an amazing week,” Andres smiled, looking directly at Sergio who was refusing to meet his eyes while the rest of the contestants cheered. He was used to the piercing stares from his brother, but this was different. He’d have to investigate this new body language.

“Today’s competition is for a beautiful couple’s getaway date. Before we get started, I want you all to pair up.”

Raquel quickly grabbed Sergio’s hand while the rest of the house partnered up, including: Alicia and Martin, Suarez and Sofia, Agata and Julia, Daniel and Monica, Marseille and Helsinki, Silene and Anibal.

“How many of you have been in a love bubble before?” Andres asked all of the contestants, “Where everything feels so perfect between you and the other person and you don’t see any of their flaws. You go through the honeymoon stage of a relationship and then boom! That love bubble bursts. All those flaws come to light. That is the heart of today’s challenge, something I like to call ‘Popping off’...”

Sergio rolled his eyes from behind Raquel. These competition names were getting worse and worse. Raquel, sensing his annoyance, looked up at him and flashed a smile, causing all of his aggravation to vanish and a grin to form across his face. Maybe being in a love bubble wasn’t so bad…

Andres couldn’t help but smile when he saw how goofy his brother looked, but it didn’t stop his rhythm for announcing the game rules, “Behind me, there is a palm tree with balloons. You and your partner will run up to the palm tree behind me and pop six balloons in your colour and then take the numbers you get to figure out the combination to open a lock on the other side of me. Sounds easy enough, right?” he smirked.

When everyone nodded, he continued, “But the catch is you can’t pop it with your hands or feet. You can only pop the balloons with your bodies.”

Sergio’s eyes widened over how ridiculous this challenge was and looked down at Raquel who was already eyeing the placement of all the blue balloons to get started. Of course she was competitive, Sergio sighed inwardly. 

“The first two to successfully open their locks will be going on the date. Are you ready?!”

Everyone cheered as Andres began the countdown for everyone to start popping their balloons. 

And, of course, what followed was yet another montage of good TV with many of the couples struggling to pop the balloons – some were unsuccessfully trying to pop with one partner sitting on the other, some were butt to butt and others attempted chest to chest. The yard was filled with many laughs over how ridiculous everyone looked.

Helsinki and Marseille, on the other hand, were able to effortlessly pop their six balloons chest to chest and were the first to attempt to unlock their box.

Raquel was trying to get Sergio to move in harder as they attempted to pop a balloon stomach to stomach. “Sergio, you were harder with me last night. Come on!”

He coughed to cover how her words made him blush and attempted to hug her tighter which resulted in the balloon falling to the ground, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me, damnit!” She yelled as she picked up the balloon and put it between them before roughly thrusting her body to his, resulting in their first successful pop. “Finally,” she sighed, “Grab the number and I’ll get the next balloon.”

Sergio picked up the number and rubbed the slight pain in his chest over how hard she thrust into him. Her competitive spirit was lethal.

“Lay down on your stomach,” she ordered him, “I have an idea.” 

When he did as she instructed, she placed the balloon on his ass and sat on it roughly popping it effortlessly. “Yess!!”

“Ow,” he grimaced. 

She ignored his pain and handed him the number that fell out. She grabbed the next balloon and continued this until they were all popped, placing the balloon on his ass while she sat on it roughly until it popped.

Andres watched the two in tears of laughter as his brother looked annoyed but knew better than to challenge the competitive woman he was paired with. He noticed when she helped him up, however, both of their eyes softened when it appeared she had apologized for being rough, resulting in the return of his brother’s goofy smile. _Did something happen between the two of them?_

Raquel and Sergio ran over to their lock box, joining Helsinki and Marseille, Alicia and Martin, and Agata and Julia who were already working on opening their locks.

“You take the numbers and give me all of the possible codes,” Raquel instructed as she put her hands on the lock. After a few unsuccessful attempts, “I thought you were supposed to be smart,” she rolled her eyes.

“This is all guess work,” Sergio responded, frustrated by the pressure she was putting on him to win this. After another unsuccessful attempt, they heard cheering: Helsinki and Marseille won the first date.

Now, it was between them, Alicia and Martin and Agata and Julia as the remaining couples were still attempting to pop their remaining balloons.

As soon as Raquel felt the lock working, she heard the second couple cheering: Agata and Julia.

“Fuck,” she groaned as she stood up. 

Sergio took her hand in his, “It’s okay,” he smiled comfortingly. “We’ll have more chances to win these stupid competitions…”

“I know,” she sighed, “I just hate losing."

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but your competitive side is lethal,” he grinned as she slapped his arm in annoyance.

“And you’re not competitive, professor?” she challenged.

“I am,” he admitted, “but at games that require intelligence and skill like chess.”

“Why am I not surprised?” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“I could teach you sometime…”

“Cute of you to assume I don’t know how to play chess.”

“Is that a challenge, inspectora?” He flirted.

“You bet your nerdy ass it is,” she grinned looking into his eyes, the two lost in their own little world while production finished the final shots of the competition.

“Congratulations to Helsinki and Marseilles and Agata and Julia who have won the date today. You’ll all be going on a helicopter ride over the island and then finishing the night with a romantic dinner for two. And for the rest of you, you have the important job of voting one of these two couples into the truth booth. Remember, this is your only opportunity to see if one of these couples is a perfect match, so choose wisely.”

Once everyone nodded, the cameras turned off for a moment and Andres walked towards Sergio and Raquel who seemed to have been _flirting?_ Was he dreaming?

“Sergio, Raquel,” he greeted while walking past the couple. Sergio didn’t miss the smirk from his brother when he looked at him and Raquel. Not only did he have to deal with the eyes of the house but his brother’s too. _Fucking fantastic._

* * *

While Agata, Julia, Marseilles and Helsinki were on their dates, the remaining contestants sat around the living room, staring at the screen with the couple selections.

“Not really an exciting week,” Martin observed. 

“I think it’s obvious: Agata and Julia. There’s no way Marseilles and Helsinki are a match…” Sofia stated while pointing at the screen.

“I agree,” Raquel nodded. “Julia is also interested in Agata and the two have talked. It’s a shot in the dark but anything is possible in this game.”

The group continued to discuss the pairings for the truth booth and, in the end, agreed on Agata and Julia. Raquel smiled while making the selection on the TV screen happy that her friend was finally getting some of the romance she was yearning for in here. She hoped there was a spark between them.

A PA approached the group once everyone’s votes were in, “Tonight, we’re hosting a neon party for all of you! We have skin-safe neon paint in the kitchen and ask that you all get dressed up and look the part tonight.”

Sergio turned to Raquel, “How many of these parties are they hosting for us?” he whispered while rolling his eyes.

“Come on, it sounds like fun,” she whispered back encouragingly while the PA talked about the lighting, food and music.

“It sounds like another night of bad decisions and a way to keep us from figuring out all of the matches….”

“Perhaps,” she shrugged, “But what if I told you I had the perfect _tight_ black dress for this…”

“I’m listening,” he grinned while turning his body to face her, loving how easy it was to flirt with her. 

“You’re getting easier and easier to convince,” she laughed, amused by how quickly he was coming around to the idea of the party.

He moved his hands on her hips, “What can I say? You can be very persuasive,” he grinned while looking down her body in excitement for tonight.

“GET A ROOM!” Alicia yelled from across the room.

Raquel rolled her eyes playfully and pulled away from Sergio, “I’m going to go shower and start getting ready. Wear all black tonight,” she instructed him.

“Yes, inspectora,” he nodded playfully, bringing his lips to hers for a sweet kiss before she left the room.

* * *

While Raquel was sitting at the large table designated for hair and make-up, Alicia cautiously walked into the room and took a seat at the other end.

“Sounds like it will be a fun party,” she commented while rolling her eyes at her idiotic attempt at small talk. 

Raquel sighed as she put another small piece of her hair through the straightener. “Yeah…”

Alicia began brushing through the tangles of her hair angrily, hating the tension between them. “Although, I’m not so sure about putting any of that paint on my body…”

“Do whatever you want,” Raquel commented emotionlessly while pulling the straightener through another piece of hair.

“Do you need any help with the back?” Alicia offered.

“I don’t know, I’d hate to ask for your help just to have you rip it out of my head instead.”

“Are you still mad about that?” Alicia asked, annoyed that she was still holding on to this anger over her telling the house about the boom boom room.

“I thought you were my friend,” Raquel shook her head. “But I guess you cared more about having that moment on TV than my feelings.”

“Is that what you think it was about?” Alicia questioned, offended that Raquel would think so low of her.

“What else could it be?” Raquel seethed through gritted teeth. 

“BECAUSE I WANTED YOU!”

“What?!” Raquel screeched.

“Sexually…” she finished, correcting the meaning of her statement quickly.

Raquel shook her head and laughed relieved she wasn’t admitting feelings. Of course this was about wanting to have sex with her and hating that Sergio got to her first.

“I’ve been trying to get you since day one and every time you told me you weren’t here for that. And then I discover you with the biggest nerd of the house?! Biggest hit to my ego since the smelly kid called me weird in kindergarten.”

“Alicia…”

“Just tell me. Why Sergio… you have your pick of anyone you want in here and you choose the virgin professor? Make it make sense.”

Raquel sighed, hating how awkward this conversation was. While she was flattered by Alicia’s confession, she was also annoyed at the constant jabs she took at Sergio.

“You’re right,” Raquel sighed, “I didn’t come in here looking to meet someone new or even have a fling. My goal was always the money… But with Sergio? I don’t even fully understand what happened. I felt something with him I haven’t felt in a long time, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore,” Raquel shrugged in an attempt to hide just how deep her feelings were starting to get for him.

“Tell me this,” Alicia replied seriously, “Do you even see a future with this guy? You are better off having fun flings in this game than catching feelings. This isn’t real life, Raquel. It’s the equivalent of meeting someone on vacation where you only see the world through rose coloured glasses.”

Raquel looked down, uncomfortable with the question, “I don’t know what the future holds or even the next three days… but-”

“You want to be with him,” Alicia finished for her, recognizing the struggle she was having putting what she was feeling to words. Raquel was falling in love in front of 15 other people, TV cameras and with a whole lot of money being dangled in front of her. Suddenly, she felt guilty over how selfish she was being. “I’m sorry I acted out before. I let my ego get the best of me…”

“Thanks…” Raquel nodded while taking out her foundation and putting a few drops on a sponge in an attempt to hide how deeply her words had impacted Raquel. 

“I still don’t think he’s good enough for you.”

“Noted.”

“But I support you. Even if I think you’re missing out on the best night of your life,” she smirked playfully while gesturing to her body. “But I’m happy that we’re friends.”

Raquel smiled while applying concealer under her eye and avoiding her flirting, “I am too.”

“So I’m forgiven?”

“You’re forgiven,” she nodded.

Alicia grinned while applying her foundation with a brush. “If Sergio acts like an idiot, will you at least promise me one night in the boom boom room?”

“Stop,” Raquel laughed.

“You know I won’t,” Alicia informed her jokingly, looking her straight in the eye from across the table.

“I know,” Raquel chuckled. 

Once there was a comfortable silence between the two women, Raquel began working on her eye makeup. Unfortunately, with every stroke of her brush, she couldn’t get a question Alicia had asked out of her head. _Do you even see a future with him?_ Was Alicia right? Was blinded by the game?

* * *

After the Truth Booth ceremony where it was revealed that Julia and Agata weren’t a match, the house was filled with the sounds of electronic music and the sights of neon lights flashing in the darkness. Black lights were scattered around the living area, lighting up the colourful paints that the contestants wore on their bodies. Not only was it a fun atmosphere for the group, but it also made for some really beautiful shots on camera.

Sergio walked into the room in black jeans and a black button down shirt just as Raquel had instructed. He walked to the kitchen to grab a beer and was greeted by Marseille who was standing by the table awkwardly.

“Sergio,” the man greeted.

“Marseille,” Sergio nodded while taking a sip of his drink.

“So…” the man started while putting his drink on the counter. “You and Raquel…”

“Uhhh...” Sergio adjusted his glasses nervously. “What about it?”

Marseilles growled in response.

Taken aback, Sergio asked, “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know whether to punch you or give you a high five,” he admitted honestly.

“A high five would be preferable,” Sergio responded calmly.

Marseilles laughed in response, taking pity over how tense he was. “You’ll treat her the way she deserves to be treated?”

“Of course,” Sergio responded, confused over where this was coming from.

“Are you aware that you’ve bagged the most in demand woman in this house?”

“Bagged?” Sergio asked, confused by what he meant. Bagged as in got her a bag? He never got her a bag...

“One misstep and there are many of us ready to jump in and comfort her…”

“Comfort her for what?” Sergio asked, again confused over what the larger man was implying. 

Marseilles walked closer to Sergio, “You’re a lucky bastard,” he shook his head, grabbed his beer and walked away.

 _What just happened?_ Sergio wondered.

“Professor!” he heard a voice call from behind.

“Hello Silene,” he smiled, turning around as the younger woman grabbed a glass of Sangria. 

“You look good tonight,” she complimented. “Trying to impress me?” she flirted.

“Uhhh….”

“Because it’s working,” she grinned seductively, moving closer to him and taking his collar in her hands to bring him closer.

Sergio pushed her back gently to show a firm denial of her advances.

“Fine,” she pouted. “We all know you only have eyes for….”

As she said it, she watched his gaze move behind her on Raquel who was wearing a strapless black body con dress that stopped mid thigh, with green neon shapes painted on her arms.

“Raquel,” she rolled her eyes playfully over him proving her point so easily. She looked at the smaller woman walking into the room and had to agree with Sergio’s lustful gaze. She looked sexy tonight. “You’re a lucky man,” she patted his shoulder and then walked away to find Anibal and Daniel who were sitting on the sofa chatting.

“Hi,” Sergio grinned when she walked up to him.

“Hi,” she smiled in return as she grabbed a beer.

“You look…” he muttered while slowly eyeing her body from her feet to her eyes, causing her to blush, “amazing.”

She grinned in response, putting her hands on his shirt buttons, opening the first few to get a clearer view of his chest.

“What are you doing?” He asked while attempting to catch his breath over the feel of her hands on him.

“What colour?” She asked, gesturing to the table of paints.

“No,” he shook his head.

“Please,” she pouted while slowly moving her fingers down his chest.

“You’re evil,” he grinned but continued to shake his head in denial.

She looked around to confirm they were alone and moved closer to him, pressing her body against his in an attempt to convince him to let loose. 

“Very evil,” he sighed when he felt her breasts on his chest.

“Is it working?” she whispered.

He wanted to say no, but he didn’t think that word existed in his vocabulary when it came to this woman, “Blue.”

She squealed happily and ran back to the table, grabbing the blue paint and began to draw on his chest.

“What are you drawing?” He asked as she carefully painted his chest.

“You’ll see,” she grinned playfully, putting the finishing touches on her design.

He looked down to see the blue paint glowing on his chest, “A lock?”

“A reminder that you lost the date for us,” she shrugged playfully, patting him on the stomach before running off to the dance area to join Monica, Agata and Silene who were all jumping around to “Lose Control” by Meduza.

Sergio entered the main room, shaking his head amused over how she just played him. She really was unlike anyone he’d ever met before. His eyes stayed on her as she moved her hips to the beat. She was the most beautiful woman in the room, and he truly was the lucky one because she wanted him back. He grinned when their eyes met while she danced, enjoying the fact that she was now putting on a show for him.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” Martin smiled as he stood next to Sergio who was smiling at Raquel while she turned around and moved her body for him.

“Like what?” he asked dumbly while taking another sip of his beer.

“Don’t make me spell it out for you…” he rolled his eyes.

“She’s amazing,” Sergio grinned. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel like this.”

“You know that almost everyone in this house wants her, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Sergio, she’s the type of woman someone wants to commit to, bring home to their family and build a life with. You know I think all of that is disgusting but…”

“Build a life with?” Sergio choked out, feeling the weight of Martin’s words.

“Don’t tell me you jumped into this without thinking about the future. Sergio!” Martin scolded. 

“Of course I thought about that,” He replied, “But I don’t know how to do all of that…. Am I out of my league here?” he asked nervously.

“You are,” Martin laughed. “But what’s beautiful about people like Raquel is they will tell you what they want. But promise me one thing, make sure you want it too, friend.”

When Martin didn’t get a response, he looked at Sergio who was making eyes with Raquel again, the two laughing together while she danced for him. They really were in a love bubble. Disgusting, he thought as he walked away before the two made him even more sick.

Raquel walked up to Sergio once he was alone, “Are you ever going to join me?” she pouted playfully.

“I was enjoying the view,” he smirked while putting his hands on her waist.

“Then think about how much better it would feel to be touching me,” she flirted as she moved back encouraging him to follow her to the dance area where many of the other contestants were dancing and shouting together.

“This isn’t really me…” He attempted to refuse.

“Once dance,” she batted her eyelashes devilishly as they got closer to the rest.

“SERGIO!” Helsinki shouted drunkenly while pulling him closer so the two could dance side by side.

“The professor has some good moves!” Monica laughed as he stiffly swayed with Helsinki.

“You can’t dance without me,” Martin ran in and got on the other side of Sergio as the men continued to dance together and laugh.

Raquel watched as Sergio let go of his inhibitions and enjoyed the company of others. He let himself be in the moment. There was a new sense of freedom she saw coming out of him, and it made her emotional to think she was partly the reason he was pushing himself out of his comfort zone.

She laughed as his dance moves got more daring as he attempted to move his arms and hips in a circle. She looked at him in his dark jeans and shirt with the neon lock glowing on his chest, and all she could think about was how she wanted to jump him in front of everyone. Every smile, laugh and moment of cheering with the men around him made it even hotter.

All questions and concerns she’d felt earlier from her conversation Alicia disappeared as her desire for him consumed every inch of her body. When his eyes found hers, he immediately recognized the look of hunger in her eyes and quickly moved towards her.

“You look really good,” she complimented as he wrapped his arms around her waist and swayed with her, attempting to follow the way her hips were moving.

“I look like a clown,” he laughed, knowing he was completely out of sync with the beat of the music.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as the two pressed their bodies closer together, getting lost in their own rhythm that was no longer dictated by the music, “Not to me,” she whispered in his ear.

He rested his forehead on hers, wanting to kiss her but not yet feeling comfortable doing so in a crowd. “Did I mention how sexy you look tonight?” he whispered.

“When did you suddenly get to be such a _smooth talker_?” She smirked, loving this side of him.

“It’s not _smooth_ when it’s the truth,” he responded with such honesty that it nearly knocked her breath out of her. 

She needed him. Now.

“I unplugged the cameras in the bathroom down here,” she whispered in his ear. 

He looked around the room to see most people focused on the music rather than them and quickly took her hand, leading her off the dance floor in the direction of said bathroom. Once they were inside the room, he slammed his lips on hers roughly. All of the passion he felt from the night pouring out in one kiss. It was a mess of lips, tongues and heavy breathing as the two walked over to the large counter. 

He lifted her onto the counter and her legs automatically spread open, grinding their crotches together as they continued to kiss feverishly. 

Her hands went to his belt and unbuckled it when his lips moved from her lips to her neck, sliding it off of him roughly and throwing it on the floor. When she undid the button of his jeans, his mouth found hers, kissing her again as his tongue explored her mouth even deeper this time. As he was pulling out, her lips wrapped around his tongue and put suction around it, eliciting a moan from him. No partner had ever done that to him before, and he had to admit he really liked how daring she was with her mouth.

He stopped kissing her for a moment as the two tried to catch their breath. He took advantage of this pause by moving his hands to the bottom hem of her dress. As he slid the fabric up, his eyes widened with desire.

“Surprise,” she whispered, lifting her butt up so he could get the fabric up to reveal she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Wow,” he whispered, moving his hand to her slit and feeling how wet she already was for him.

“Fuck me, Sergio,” she begged as his fingers explored her wetness slowly.

He removed his hand from her and pushed down his pants and boxers, freeing his very hard and red cock that was already oozing with precum. 

Raquel’s hand moved down to him and stroked him a couple of times, causing his breath to get heavier. She opened her legs wider, urging him to get closer to her. As he did, her hand stayed on him as she positioned his cock towards her entrance. “Please, Sergio,” she begged.

There was no need for foreplay or sweet kisses tonight. She wanted to be fucked, hard, and hoped he’d get the memo with her body language. This was still new for them, but she trusted him in a way she rarely had with previous partners.

At first, he slowly entered her until he knew she was comfortable with him inside her and began to progressively grind harder like he knew she wanted. When he heard her subtle squeal of happiness, his lips found hers again, kissing her with an animalistic passion as the two thrust into each other messily. The rhythm being guided by their pleasure.

As they got closer to climax, Raquel’s hand moved to her clit and rubbed it in circles while he moved in her roughly. Her other hand was on the counter holding herself up while his hands were on her hips to get better friction between the two.

The only sounds in the bathroom were those of their bodies slamming together, their heavy breathing and the occasional moans as they got closer to reaching orgasm. 

It was only a few minutes later when the two lost their last bit of control and gave into their need to orgasm. Raquel was first, as she nearly screamed when she felt the power of it overtake her whole body. Sergio quickly followed, grunting when he felt himself giving into the immense pleasure of being inside her. Their first night together had been slow and pleasurable in contrast to this fast, messy fuck that resulted in powerful orgasms that left the two completely breathless for a few minutes after.

While they were catching their breaths, their eyes never left each other as if both were surprised by how delicious and intense this moment was.

“Wow,” Raquel whispered through deep breaths.

“Yeah,” Sergio agreed, pulling his now flaccid member out of her. “That was intense.”

She looked at their appearances and laughed, The lock on his chest was now a blue blob from his sweat; his pants and boxers were around his ankles; and the bottom of her dress was bunched around her waist. Definitely not the most romantic moment, but it was still powerful nonetheless and it revealed a new level of trust between them. They, for the first time, let go of all control. Somehow, she felt herself falling even deeper for him after it.

She brought him to her and kissed him tenderly and slowly to show him just how satisfied she felt. His hands went into her hair while hers rubbed up and down his back.

“Thank you for being so free with me,” she smiled as they broke apart from each other.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he smiled back as his hands moved from her hair to her waist.

“You’re a mess,” she laughed when she took in his appearance.

“So are you,” he laughed, looking at how her lipstick was smudged around her mouth.

She hopped off the counter and grabbed a towel, wetting it and wiping the blue neon pain from his chest. The two straightened out their clothes and Raquel fixed her make-up, grabbing her lipstick from her bra.

“Where was that?”

“If you would have taken the time to explore my breasts, you would have found it,” she shrugged.

“I tried and you pulled me away from them,” he pouted jokingly. 

She shrugged. “I’m a woman who knows what she wants,” she smiled playfully.

“And I love that,” he grinned, pulling her close to him one last time and placing a light kiss on her lips.

The two opened the door thankful there was no one on the other end listening. She chose this part of the house on purpose, knowing very few people use this bathroom.

The music was still blasting and they could hear the laughter from the other contestants coming from the living room.

“Want to go back?” She asked, grabbing his hand in hers.

“Yes,” he surprised her and even himself with his answer. “I’m not that tired, are you?”

“No, I’m suddenly filled with new energy,” she grinned suggestively.

When they walked back into the living room, most of their housemates were sitting around the sofa taking a break from all of the dancing.

“Where have you two been?” Alicia asked when she saw the couple walking in the room hand-in-hand.

“We just wanted to get away from the loud music for a bit,” Raquel shrugged while Sergio looked at the ceiling.

“Sure,” Alicia laughed but decided not to press them any further. She didn’t want to get back on Raquel’s bad side again.

“What are you all talking about?” Raquel asked as Sergio took a seat on the couch and pulled her on his lap casually, not wanting to break apart after this new sense of closeness they’d found in each other.

“Agata and Julia’s date,” Silene frowned as she looked at Agata.

“It wasn’t good?” Raquel asked, concerned for her friend.

“Our lives wouldn’t work together. We’re way too different,” she shrugged.

“Did you at least fuck?” Alicia asked.

Raquel rolled her eyes, “Not everyone jumps right in…”

“You’re one to talk,” She rolled her eyes and the rest laughed as they looked at her and Sergio who were being affectionate in front of the group for the first time – his hand absentmindedly rubbing her back while hers played with his hair, loving the feel of it in between her fingers.

“We haven’t been on a date…”

“Point proven,” Helsinki laughed as the rest joined in at their expense. How did they become _that_ couple already?

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Agata.” Raquel commented, changing the subject in hopes they’d stay away from her and Sergio’s _activities,_

“Where is Julia?” Sergio asked, realizing she wasn’t in the room to share her side of the story.

“She went off with Suarez earlier…” Agata responded.

“Oh god,” Raquel rolled her eyes.

For the rest of the night, the group continued to sit around talking and enjoying each other’s company. Sergio realized it was the first time he felt part of the group. After weeks of feeling like an outsider, he had to admit that it felt nice. This wasn’t his version of normal, but perhaps Andres was right, his version of normal wasn’t fulfilling. He needed more.

He looked at the woman on his lap who had just laughed at something Alicia said and couldn’t help but smile with her. She was perfect. He hoped that she was the “more” he needed.

* * *

The next morning, the entire house was woken up by the PAs who let them know that Dr. Perez would be there in an hour to give the contestants some relationship advice before they went into the next match-up ceremony tomorrow.

Raquel stirred next to Sergio who was also slowly opening his eyes after a late night with the group.

“Did you have fun last night?” She asked in a raspy voice when he looked into her tired eyes.

“I actually did,” he smiled while tenderly moving a few loose strands of hair from her face.

“I’m glad,” she grinned while getting lost in his eyes.

When she heard the groans of other contestants over being woken up so abruptly, she reluctantly sat up slowly and climbed over Sergio to get out of bed while he was still struggling to get moving. 

Once everyone was ready, they sat in the seats arranged for the group with Dr. Perez seated in front ready to talk about today’s topic: the love bubble. 

“Hi everyone,” she smiled, “I’m really excited to be here!” 

The contestants all greeted her and then Dr. Perez continued, “Alright, so I want to start by talking about the challenge yesterday, bursting open that love bubble. When we’re into somebody, we’re really into them, and we’re thinking this is totally perfect. This relationship is a relationship made in heaven and then you start to wake up and see that this person is human and has flaws like we all have flaws…”

Agata, in response, chose to share her story, “I spent weeks convincing myself I had it all figured out with someone but I was in my own bubble because what I was feeling wasn’t returned or based on reality. When the bubble burst, it actually gave me the freedom to recognize my own flaws for once.”

Sergio looked uncomfortable as she spoke, knowing it was about him. He truly regretted not understanding that she thought they were in some type of relationship. He didn’t see the signs at all. 

“Yes, that’s one version of a love bubble for sure. When we ignore our own red flags and convince ourselves that someone is perfect for us,” Dr. Perez agreed.

“Doesn’t this house act as a love bubble?” Alicia asked. “People who fall in love in this game are not living their everyday lives, so it’s easy to get lost in someone and think something is perfect because we’re not going to our jobs or dealing with our families.” As Alicia said this, she looked back to Sergio and Raquel who were sitting side by side holding hands. She really felt like Raquel needed a reality check right now with the way she and Sergio were falling deeper and deeper for each other. She didn’t want her friend to lose herself in yet another man who wouldn’t treat her the way she deserved to be.

“You’re right,” Dr. Perez nodded. “This house can act as a bubble from your real life responsibilities, and if you feel yourself falling for someone in here, you both need to talk about how you’d fit in each other’s lives, but the primary goal of this game is to find your perfect match in here, and once you do that, I think the future can be whatever you make of it.”

“I’m the opposite,” Silene admitted. “I’m so scared of getting stuck in the love bubble with someone that I focus more on meaningless hookups. I think because I avoid those connections, I really hurt people…”

Raquel smiled proudly as she saw the younger woman opening up about her relationship issues. She knew she’d been holding herself back from moving forward with Anibal in fear of falling hard and getting hurt, and it was considerable growth for her to admit it.

“That’s a really good point. The love bubble can be a scary place because we know at some point it will burst. Whether that’s noticing flaws you were ignoring or the reality of your life getting in the way of your relationship. The important thing to do is to recognize these things within yourself and with your partner so you can communicate and help each other through it.”

She looked around at the group who was mostly staying silent and decided to ask a question to continue the conversation, “Is there anyone in a love bubble now?”

Everyone’s eyes went to Raquel and Sergio who looked shocked by the way people were viewing their connection.

“Umm… I mean, Sergio and I have just started getting to know each other on a more romantic level recently, so I guess you could say we’re in that honeymoon phase…” Raquel stuttered.

“And that’s okay,” Dr. Perez assured, “It’s completely normal to feel like everything is perfect at first, but my advice to both of you is start mitigating the moment that bubble bursts and be honest with each other about what you want in a partner and a relationship. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge that you both won’t be perfect at it. What makes it worth it is the willingness of both people to put in the effort to build a foundation of trust and honesty together.”

“Right,” Raquel nodded in agreement, removing her hand from Sergio’s as she took this advice to heart. Were she and Sergio stuck in a love bubble that would blow up in their faces? Was Alicia right that it was possible that life outside paradise would be too much for them? Was she setting herself up for another big heartbreak? While these questions swirled through her mind on repeat, Dr. Perez said goodbye to the group.

“Good luck with tomorrow’s match up ceremony,” she said as she got up and left the room.

Raquel looked at Sergio and then back to her hands that were starting to sweat. And on top of it all, they had the match up ceremony tomorrow where she’d be choosing her perfect match. _What was she going to do?_

**_[cheesy voiceover]_ ** _Will Raquel's anxiety cause drama for her and Sergio? Will Agata ever find her match? Will Silene finally give Anibal a chance? Who will Marseille growl at next? Find out in the next few chapters!_


	9. The future?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ALL for your continued support of this fic. Writing this story has really been helping me through some dark days, and I can't put into words how much it means to me that you're enjoying it. Every bit of feedback whether it's a comment, kudos, tweet, liking a tweet, etc. really brings me so much joy. You're all the greatest and most supportive fandom.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter. :)

Sergio looked at Raquel after Dr. Perez left the house and the camera operators around them began to relax, “That was interesting,” he commented awkwardly.

“Yeah,” Raquel smiled, however, before she could continue, her gaze moved to Monica running outside quickly to mask how upset she was. “Excuse me, Sergio. I’m going to go talk to her,” she informed him, gesturing in Monica’s direction.

“Of course,” he nodded.

Without another look at Sergio, Raquel ran towards the blonde woman who was seated on the daybed closest to the beach.

“Hey,” she greeted hesitantly as a way of asking permission to join her.

“Hi Raquel,” Monica attempted to smile while patting the spot next to her. “How are you doing?”

Raquel, constantly touched by her kindness, shook her head, “I’m here to see how you’re doing,” she informed her. “You’ve been my rock in here, and you look like you could use a friend right now,” she smiled while taking her hand.

Monica considered this for a moment and finally settled on a question to help with her current insecurities. “How did you know it was right with Sergio? To… you know?” she blushed slightly at the implication of her question.

“Honestly?” Raquel began, “Trust. I trusted him enough to give into the attraction I knew we were both feeling…”

“Right,” Monica nodded bitterly. “Daniel is frustrated because I won’t…”

“Is that idiot pressuring you?!”

“No, it’s not that. He’s been respectful, but he has a hard time hiding his frustration when I put the breaks on.”

“Do you know what’s stopping you?” Raquel asked with concern.

“For a while I thought it was the cameras and the lack of privacy…”

“That’s a good reason,” Raquel laughed bitterly, remembering how the whole house gossiped about her and Sergio just hours ago. And she didn’t even want to think about what would be shown on TV… _fuck._

“But then something Alicia said today made me think. How this house is like a love bubble where our connections are formed in a vacuum. Daniel and I are so different outside of this that I’m scared we could be feeling this way in here but….” 

“You don’t know if it can last outside of this game,” Raquel finished for her as she’d begun having the same fears over her and Sergio. They were both living very different lives and even though there were many similarities between them, she feared their differences would tear them apart outside of this vacuum. 

“Exactly,” Monica agreed sadly. “I do like him, he makes me laugh and he’s an amazing kisser, but he’s unlike anyone I’ve ever been with, and it terrifies me.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing though?” Raquel encouraged her as she had similar feelings about Sergio and reflecting on her past, she knew this was good for her.

“Maybe, but I don’t see how it would work. He works for his dad in Valencia and I’m working full-time in Madrid. He would never leave his dad, so I would have to be the one to move…”

“Have you talked to him about any of this?” 

“No,” she admitted sadly. “I don’t know how to bring it up, especially when he talks about how amazing our life would be together after this without thinking about the logistics.”

“You’ll never be able to move forward if you don’t talk to him,” Raquel countered yet her voice filled with empathy. She knew exactly how her friend was feeling as she was asking those same questions about Sergio. The only difference is she had already jumped in with both feet before looking at how deep the water was. Suddenly, she wished she had been as cautious as Monica.

“He’s so immature though… Yesterday, when I tried having a serious conversation with him, he started making fart noises,” Monica shook her head in disgust. “I don’t know how to have an adult conversation with him.”

“Oh shit,” Raquel rolled her eyes. “He’s still a kid at heart.”

“And most of the time, I find it charming, but right now, I need him to take whatever is between us seriously or I can’t see it continuing.”

“You need to talk to him,” Raquel concluded. “For your own sanity, and if he doesn’t take it seriously or tries to brush it off, then you have your answer.”

“You’re right,” Monica nodded sadly. “I don’t want it to end, but I’m also tired of wasting my time on relationships that have an obvious expiration date. That’s what I’m trying to get away from…”

“And you deserve more than that,” Raquel reminded her, grabbing her friend into a hug. “No matter what happens, you know I’m here for you, right?”

“I do,” she pulled out of the hug and looked Raquel in the eyes. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Raquel smiled, relieved to see Monica’s beautiful smile again.

“Now, what about you and Sergio?”

“I don’t know,” Raquel admitted it. “When I’m with him, everything in the world disappears and it’s just us…”

“The love bubble…”

“Yes,” Raquel nodded sadly. “But I don’t know if he’s ready for a mother, daughter and sick grandmother invading his life of solitude.”

“Have you talked to him about it?” 

“We haven’t been doing a lot of talking lately,” Raquel admitted sheepishly.

“Raquel!” Monica laughed, “And here I thought this was the last thing you would do in here…”

“I did too,” Raquel agreed while running her hands through her hair in frustration. “What am I doing?”

“I think this game is getting to us,” Monica observed. “Do you think if you met Sergio outside of this, there would be the same connection?”

“I’d like to think there would be,” Raquel replied, “But I don’t know. We live such different lives...” she admitted sadly. The bubble was bursting, she could feel it.

“How about we make a pact?” Monica offered, “I talk to Daniel tonight and you talk to Sergio… and then we go into the match-up ceremony tomorrow with answers at least.”

Raquel considered this, worried that a relationship talk with Sergio would scare him off, but it was better she knew now before she got in any deeper than she already was. “Let’s do it,” Raquel agreed.

“And if it all goes to shit, we at least have each other?” Monica offered hopefully as both women were filled with fear and dread over what was going to come next.

“And I’m thankful for it,” Raquel smiled reassuringly. 

“Looks like you don’t have to wait much longer,” the blond observed as she saw Sergio walking towards them.

Great, Raquel thought with dread when she saw the smile on his face as he was getting closer. Was she really ready to put whatever was happening between them at risk so early?

“Hey,” Sergio greeted with a goofy smile when he met the two women. He didn’t want to admit that he’d been sitting by the pool with Martin keeping an eye on the two and waiting for their conversation to wrap up. It surprised him how he felt this constant need to be close to Raquel and how just being in her presence brought him peace in this tumultuous game.

“I’m going to find Daniel,” Monica announced but quickly realizing her words were falling on deaf ears as Raquel and Sergio were grinning foolishly at each other. _They really have it bad_ , Monica smiled. She wished she could let go of her insecurities and have this with Daniel. If only he could be serious for ten minutes, she thought as she left the couple on their own.

Sergio quickly joined Raquel on the daybed, laying his body next to hers. Looking at how the sun was framing her face so perfectly, he couldn’t help but stare at the woman next to him in awe. She was glowing.

“What?” She asked as his stare was bringing a blush to her cheeks.

“You look amazing,” he complimented, his voice laced with desire.

And suddenly, all of Raquel’s plans to talk to Sergio disappeared as she couldn’t stop herself from capturing his lips in a soft kiss of gratitude. 

“What was that for?” Sergio grinned, running his fingers down her arm when she broke away from him.

“You have this way of making me feel like the most beautiful woman,” she beamed, feeling her body tingle from the lightness of his touch.

“That’s because you are,” he responded, completely serious. His hand moving down to her hip while looking her straight in the eye.

Raquel felt as if her heart stopped for a moment. The man who confessed he never fell in love before was unknowingly turning her into a pile of love mush. His words were so honest and pure that she couldn’t stop herself from kissing him yet again. This time, she wasted no time teasing his bottom lip with her tongue and he quickly opened his mouth to allow her tongue to slide over his sensually. 

As they kissed, a voice in Raquel’s voice reminded her that they needed to talk. She needed to stop this; however, the moment he lightly sucked on her tongue, the only sound that came from her was a low growl.

Sergio’s hand began wandering down her hip to her thigh, thankful she was wearing a sundress when his hand was met with her smooth skin. When he began to move her dress up slowly, she quickly put her hand over his to stop him.

“Hey,” she laughed, breaking the kiss. “We’re outside…”

Sergio looked around them, noting that the back of the daybed covered them from the eyes of other housemates who were at least 50 metres away. There weren’t any cameras around them as there seemed to be a dispute in the house that was getting all of their attention. “There’s no one around,” he whispered, taking her hand in his and threading their fingers.

“We should talk,” Raquel sighed, annoyed that the rational part of her brain was choosing this moment to make an appearance.

“So talk,” Sergio teased while moving his lips back on hers for another hot, wet kiss.

Raquel groaned over the fact he wasn’t making this easy on her. “Sergio… we really should talk…”

“I’m not stopping you,” he continued, removing his hand from hers and putting it back on her thigh as he captured her lips in another hot kiss. He was completely addicted to the way she tasted – pineapples, honey and sunshine. How could she expect him to stop when she tasted better than any dessert a Michelin three-star chef could make?

“Fuck,” she sighed when his hands began to wander under her dress while his tongue slid expertly over hers. She could tell he’d really taken the time to study how she liked to be kissed because he was eliciting feelings in her very few of her past partners could... in only days.

“Okay,” he smirked while moving his hand to her panty covered core and immediately feeling the heat radiating from her. “We can talk about that.”

“No, that’s not what I-” she attempted, but the second two of his fingers were rubbing soft circles on clit through her now soaking wet underwear, she lost her ability to form thoughts. Her only focus was to keep breathing as his fingers began to move faster.

“What was that?” he teased while kissing down her neck to the spot he knew she loved, grinning when he heard her breath get even shallower as she was losing what little control she had left.

“I hate you,” she breathed out.

He simply laughed and moved her underwear to the side, reveling in how wet she was for him— out in the open where anyone could walk by. It was an excitement he never expected to feel, but she brought out a side of him he never even knew could exist. “Do you want me to stop?”

“I’ll kill you if you stop,” she moaned as his first finger entered her while his thumb lightly brushed over her clit.

To avoid being overheard, Sergio kissed her again as his second finger entered her, feeling her hot breath in the back of his throat. He knew the messier her kisses got, the hotter her breaths felt and the way her tongue moved all over his mouth, the closer she was getting to unraveling. He fucked her even faster to help her over the edge and it only took a few more seconds before he heard her hold back a squeal as her body began to spasm on his hand. _Fuck, she was hot._

Raquel, while taking a few seconds to catch her breath as Sergio’s hands left her panties, almost lost it again when he casually brought his fingers to his mouth. Here she was, having a complete mental breakdown over their future, while he just finger fucked her into oblivion only to suck his fingers like he was enjoying a summer treat. She wanted to be mad at him for it, but she couldn’t seem to find that emotion within her at the moment.

She looked down to see him straining in his pants and moved her hand to his belt, unfastening it quickly.

“No,” he denied quickly, “you don’t have to-”

“You can’t expect me not to return the favour,” she teased, happy to be the one back in control again while pulling his pants and boxers down slightly to free his erection. Her touches started light, swirling the precum around his tip and then bringing her whole hand around him. After a few soft up and down motions to get him used to her touch, she began to jerk him off more quickly.

His one hand was propping him up on his side while his other was on her waist. When she heard a low grunt, she quickly kissed him to keep him quiet while moving her hand even faster.

“Raquel,” he whispered into her mouth as he came, his cum flying onto his stomach and all over her hand. Once he calmed down, he pushed her back and kissed her, his tongue swirling around hers in complete ecstasy. He’d never done something like this before. He didn’t know what came over him, but he didn’t regret it. How could he when the most beautiful woman was softly caressing his softening cock?

“That got messy,” Raquel laughed while grabbing her towel so she could wipe her hand and his stomach. He pulled his pants back up and refastened them as quickly as possible, thankful that this time there wasn’t a “gotcha” moment from Alicia. Only the seagulls would have seen them. He hoped they at least enjoyed the show.

“Come here,” he whispered, laying back on the daybed with her cuddled into his side. His arm was wrapped around her waist while hers was over his stomach, drawing small circles on it with her fingers.

“You know,” she whispered while staring at her hand, “It’s times like this where it feels like you’re two different people. Shy awkward Sergio and then a sexy commanding professor…”

“Oh?” he laughed while looking down at the smile at her face. “And which one do you prefer?”

“I like both,” she admitted as she continued to run patterns around his stomach with her fingers absentmindedly. 

“I never knew this side of me could exist,” he admitted, his voice heavy by how profound it felt to be so free with her. 

“What side exactly?” she asked teasingly, knowing the answer but wanting to hear him say it.

“The side that’s bold enough to fool around with you when anyone can walk by…”

“I like that side,” she grinned. 

He laughed, enjoying the small talk between them as they relished in the afterglow.

“Is Monica okay?” he asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Shit, Raquel remembered. _The talk._ She was kicking herself for letting this all happen before potentially scaring him off. Perhaps there was a way to get a sense of what he was feeling via Monica’s story, she considered. It was safer than being direct with him.

“She’s worried about her and Daniel after the game,” Raquel told him, staring into his eyes for a reaction, but he kept a straight face. 

“Right, he lives in Valencia…”

“Yeah,” Raquel agreed, “but it’s not just that. We were talking about what Alicia said about this house being a bubble…”

“A bubble?”

“You know, like a controlled space to get to know each other without the challenges of our lives.”

“Right,” he nodded, remembering that part of the conversation with Dr. Perez. Given his distaste for all relationship “expert” talk, he had to admit that during that discussion, he was thinking about all of the science around bubbles. “Have you ever frozen a bubble before?”

“Sergio,” she warned yet still smiled over how nerdy he could be.

“Sorry, go on,” he laughed, stopping himself from sharing some, what he believed, were interesting facts.

“Monica’s worried she’s wasting her time because of the possibility that their connection only works in this space. They’re so different…”

“She brings up a good point,” Sergio considered.

“She does?” Raquel asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach appearing.

“They may feel the pressure of forming a connection because of the game and are trying to force something given their initial attraction to each other,” he offered objectively, thinking about how Daniel was frustrated she wasn’t ready to take their connection much further.

“Right…” Raquel sighed.

“And on top of that,” he continued, “No one in here is living their lives to their usual routine, so it could also be boredom,” Sergio contemplated, again, thinking about the game objectively as an academic and completely missing Raquel’s reactions to his words.

“Boredom,” she repeated, realizing that he could think that’s the basis for their connection here.

“Yeah, what responsibilities do we have here other than weekly challenges and match up ceremonies? And the game is finding your match so most people are trying to force feelings because what else is there to do?” 

Raquel sat up abruptly, moving out of his arms to wrap her brain around his words. Is this what he thought about them? Was she a cure for boredom? That seemed unlikely but then again, this house did have a way of changing people…

“What’s wrong?” he asked, finally noticing she was visibly upset by this conversation.

“Is that what we are?” She asked bluntly, unable to skirt around what was on her mind anymore.

“What-” he asked, sitting up, shocked by her question.

“Is this just boredom? Scratching an itch while we're stuck in some hellish paradise?” She asked, growing more and more annoyed by his words.

“I thought we were talking about Monica and Daniel-” Sergio replied, confused over where this was coming from.

“But it also applies to us!” She raised her voice in frustration. “What was I thinking? How can this work? I have a daughter, a sick mother, I’m in the middle of a custody battle and my job is a mess right now. My life is chaos, and I was stupid to think that this could be more than just a bit of fun while living in a bubble… fuck,” she laughed bitterly to herself as a way to hold back her tears.

“Raquel-” he attempted to deny, confused over where this outburst was coming from. What did he say to imply-

“I’m sorry, Sergio. We can’t keep doing this…” she sighed as she moved off the bed, “I can’t let myself get hurt again over boredom and forced connections.”

“No, that’s not-” he attempted to yell to her, but she continued to run away pretending she didn’t hear his protests. _How could she not know that he was falling head over heels in love with her?_

* * *

Hours later, Sergio walked into the house after taking a long walk on the beach followed by sitting in the daybed alone, struggling to understand where everything went wrong. What had he said to make her believe he’d seen her as a cure for boredom when she was his biggest surprise in here? He came in here expecting to live in the shadows of the other contestants until they made it to the end. No lasting friendships and, least of all, a love connection, but she brought something out of him he’d never felt before. Desire. Happiness. Bliss. Tenderness. She was showing him just how special romance can be. 

The problem, however, was that he didn’t know how to tell her that in words. He didn’t know how to dispel her fears. She was right. They are living in a controlled space that isn’t tested by the stress of everyday life. How could he reassure her when he didn’t have a good track record of allowing people in his life? How could he show her that this was different in a way he hadn’t already?

The moment he kissed her, he knew that was it for him. That he wanted nothing more than to have a future with her. To invite her to lunches on campus, take her on dates, meet her family, have her meet his family and most of all, be her partner through all of the chaos she was experiencing. His life was very controlled and orderly, and he knew he could offer her stability while she could offer him fun, passion and excitement. But telling her that in words. That he didn’t know how to do. 

Dejectedly, Sergio walked into the house to find the main living area empty with the exception of Silene and Agata who were sitting on the couch chatting. 

“Where is everyone?” he asked when he noted how quiet the house was – a rare occurrence.

“Sergio, it’s 1 a.m.. Where do you think they are?” Agata asked, confused by his presence. She assumed he’d gone to bed like everyone else.

“I suppose I lost track of time,” he sighed, plopping his body on the other side of the L-shaped couch. Everything about him read: sad puppy.

“What’s going on, Sergio?” Agata asked, observing how devastated he looked by the way his body was slumped on the couch. 

“It’s nothing,” he smiled halfheartedly.

“Professor,” Silene smiled while moving to sit next to him, “You look like someone just burned your favourite book. What’s wrong?”

He remained silent, hating the idea of talking about his feelings with these two women yet when he looked up, he saw that they were now both on either side of him looking at him expectantly. He wasn’t getting out of this.

“Did something happen with Raquel?” Agata asked curiously. When she saw the way his shoulders slumped and looked down, she knew the answer.

“What happened with Raquel?” Silene pushed, seeing the same change in body language.

“I don’t want to talk-”

“With all due respect,” Silene stopped him, “If you can’t talk to us about it, how are you going to talk to her?”

They had a point, Sergio considered. But the last thing he wanted was for the two women to tease him, or worse, expose how he was feeling to the rest of the house.

Seeing his hesitation, Agata softened, “Sergio, what you say here stays between us, right Silene?”

“Of course,” she smiled, “We want to help you.”

“Raquel’s mad at me,” Sergio admitted reluctantly. 

“Okay, that’s a start,” Agata encouraged. “What made her mad?”

“I don’t know,” Sergio confessed. “I’ve spent hours trying to understand it, but I can’t seem to pinpoint where it went wrong.”

“That’s where we can help,” Silene smiled, patting him on the thigh encouragingly. “We’re experts in what pisses off women. Hell, I’m pissed off 90% of the time.”

“That’s true,” Agata smiled. “She was mad at me earlier because I told her she looked tired.”

“That's because I'm NOT tired!” She began but then laughed over how easily she was triggered . “See? Expert.”

“Fine,” Sergio sighed. “We were talking about Daniel and Monica. She was telling me that Monica was scared of getting closer to him because she questioned if they had a future.”

“Ok, we knew that,” Agata nodded. “What did you say?”

“I said that Monica could be right. We’re living in a vacuum right now and it’s possible she’s forcing a connection because she thinks she has to for the game or that she’s bored…”

“No…” Agata cringed.

“You didn’t…” Silene frowned.

“What? What did I do?”

“Oh Sergio,” Silene soothed. “For a smart man, you are so dumb. She was testing you.”

“Testing me?”

“Not testing you exactly,” Silene corrected, “but testing how you felt about relationships in the game.”

“Yes, she’s a very confident woman. And so strong, but when it comes to love, there’s only so much hurt someone can take in their life before they question everyone’s true intentions,” Agata added.

“But how could she think that? I’ve never-”

“Stop,” Agata interrupted. “This isn’t about you. It’s about her and her own insecurities about falling for someone again.”

Sergio sighed, feeling even more lost than he did before this discussion, “What do I do?”

“Before we can answer that, you have to answer us this. Is she right?” Silene asked, sternly, feeling herself getting protective of Raquel.

“Of course not!” Sergio denied. “Yes, these aren’t the most conventional circumstances to meet someone, but she’s the first person who has ever made me think that a relationship wouldn’t be so bad…”

“Romantic,” Silene rolled her eyes.

“Just what a woman wants to hear, ‘not so bad’,” Agata shook her head. “You can do better than that. We both know what you feel for her is special, but you need to convince her it’s more than just a connection of circumstance.”

“Fine,” Sergio sighed, and took a moment to gather the courage to put what he was feelings into words, “I came in here dreading everything about this game and thinking it was going to be the worst two months of my life, and then she walked into the room at the white party and something changed. Suddenly, I was intrigued. I was focused on wanting to get to know her, and the more I did, the more I realized this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I feel like for the first time I’m seeing the world in colour, and I never want this feeling to end. I can’t imagine a future without her in it,” he let out a deep shaky breath over confessing something so honest. When he was met with silence, he feared he messed up, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Silene smiled through tears, completely touched by how genuine his feelings were for Raquel. She deserved this.

“Tell her that,” Agata choked out, speechless over how deep his feelings were. She thought it would hurt to hear it, but she only felt happiness for her friends. They found love in here, and it was real.

“Yes, exactly that,” Silene grinned. “I’m so happy for you two.”

“Me too,” Agata agreed, the honesty of her words weren't lost on Sergio who was touched after all they’d been through together in the past couple of weeks.

“Thank you,” Sergio smiled. “Both of you.”

“Now, get some sleep and talk to your future wife,” Silene teased.

“Future what?” Sergio choked out.

“Sorry, this was getting too sappy,” Silene shrugged. “You know how I love to see you squirm.”

“Unfortunately,” Sergio rolled his eyes while he stood up. He looked down at the women again, “Thank you both.”

“Anytime,” Agata smiled back, “We’re all family now.”

Sergio smiled genuinely at the thought, grateful for the friendships he was making in this house. It may be a game, but he knew that these friendships were going to last for years to come. 

He said his farewells to the two women who seemed to go back to their previous conversation and finally felt how tired he was - mind and body. It was a relief to have a better understanding of how Raquel was feeling and he felt determined to fix this between them. He just hoped he’d be able to convince her their connection was worth taking a chance on.

* * *

The next evening, the 14 contestants walked on to the stage towards Andres for the fourth match-up ceremony. As they walked in, they smiled at Angel and Mari Carmen who were sitting in one of the couches, watching them all.

“Welcome contestants,” Andres grinned as they all walk onto the stage looking their best. Even Sergio appeared to put a bit more effort into his appearance than he usually did by wearing an all black suit and crisp white shirt. 

As they all got on stage, he could sense some tension among some of the contestants. Namely, Raquel who appeared to be dreading this moment. He hoped his brother didn’t already fuck up his first love story. 

“How are we all feeling tonight?” He was met with cheers with the exception of Sergio who never partook in these moments and Raquel who looked completely miserable. This wasn’t good, Andres thought.

“Welcome to your fourth match-up ceremony! We’ve brought back Angel and Mari Carmen, your first confirmed perfect match. How has the honeymoon suite been?”

Angel smiled, “Amazing,” he gushed. “Mari Carmen is an amazing woman and we’ve been having a great time getting to know each other.

Raquel rolled her eyes at that as her mind went back to their last night in the house where he confessed his feelings for her. She had a feeling Mari Carmen had no idea, she thought sadly.

“Wonderful,” Andres smiled. “Now, you all know the drill by now. I’ll call you up one by one, and you’ll choose who you think your perfect match is,” he reminded them as he went over the sequence of events that they were all very aware of. “First up tonight is Suarez.”

He walked up smiling, knowing exactly who he was going to pick. “Hey Andres.”

“How’s your week been?”

“Enlightening,” he grinned. “Seems a few connections aren’t as solid as we thought…”

Andres had to fight rolling his eyes. He even thought this guy was a jerk, and this was coming from a fellow jerk, so he didn’t use the word lightly, “Who’s your perfect match tonight?”

“Raquel,” he grinned.

“What?!” he heard Silene yell from behind him. “You know she’s with Sergio…”

“Doesn’t seem like it anymore,” he shrugged.

Raquel, who was too stunned to comment, looked at Sergio quickly who seemed angry and then walked up to Suarez.

“Why Raquel?” Andres asked, confused over where this came from. Didn’t he pee in her bed a week ago?

“She’s the only person in here who doesn’t want to jump in bed with me.”

“How does that make me your match?” Raquel demanded, disgusted by his reasoning.

“I said I needed a challenge, and she’s a challenge,” he shrugged.

“You’re disgusting,” Raquel shook her head. 

“Besides, I was told today you’re back on the market, and I thought I’d make my desire known.”

“No,” Raquel shook her head. 

“So you don’t think he’s your match?” Andes asked, amused by this moment.

“God no,” Raquel shook her head. “He’s everything I said I didn’t want.”

“You pain me,” Suarez laughed, loving the drama this created. It was exactly what he wanted.

“Alright,” Andres stopped them reluctantly. This was definitely going to make good TV. “Lock in you two.” 

They both put their hands on the touch screens and went to take a seat on one of the couches with Raquel scowling while Suarez smirked, proud of himself for shaking up this boring game.

“Daniel,” Andres smiled as the group cheered. “Who’s your match tonight?”

Daniel’s smile disappeared, “Tonight, I’m going to choose Silene.”

“Excuse me?!” The younger woman screeched.

“I thought you and Monica had been forming a connection,” Andres remarked, confused by this pairing.

“I did too,” he said sadly, “But she dumped me last night.”

‘I didn’t!” Monica protested from behind him. “I told him until he could take this seriously, it wasn’t going to work…”

“Same thing,” he shrugged.

“It’s not!” She disagreed. “But I guess I now have my answer,” she fumed.

Andres shook his head over how the house was falling apart. “Ok then, lock in you two.”

After Daniel and Silene, what followed were more puzzling matches, including Marseilles and Monica. Julia and Sergio, and Anibal and Sofia.

Helsinki seemed to be the only one choosing with his heart when he selected Martin who didn’t look impressed with the match up. Poor Helsinki, Agata frowned. She wished he'd stop wasting his time on such a jackass.

All of these matches left Alicia and Agata as the last two, making them an automatic match this week.

"This is bullshit,” Alicia moaned as Agata walked next to her.

“What’s wrong?” Andres asked. 

“None of these dummies know how to pick a match tonight. Clearly.” Alicia rolled her eyes.

“I’m not THAT bad,” Agata replied.

“No, but you annoy me. And I annoy you.”

“Sounds like a perfect match to me,” Andres laughed.

“Shut up,” Alicia rolled her eyes. 

“Lock in you two,” Andres gestured to the touch screen while attempting to hold in his laughter. 

Once everyone was seated, Andres reminded them that each perfect match would be represented by a blue beam of light. They were starting with one beam as Angel and Mari Carmen were a confirmed perfect match; however, if they failed to get any new matches tonight, they would still lose a quarter of the prize money.

As the lights went down, the nerves of the 16 contestants could be felt in the air. None of these match-ups made sense, and they all feared this could end in a black out.

After a minute of complete silence, the first beam appeared, earning everyone a deep sigh of relief. They haven't lost any money at least. Before they could refocus their energy in hopes of another match, the lights came back on. 

_One new match._

“What was this, guys?” Andres asked annoyed by the fact they were slipping backwards from the previous ceremony. “You’ve been in this house for a month now and we’re at two matches! You need to start playing this game with your heart or you’re all going to lose.”

Everyone looked at each other dejectedly, knowing that what happened between Sergio and Raquel and Monica and Daniel shook the house up tonight. 

“Go back inside and talk to each other. Get to know each other and please, start making some real connections. You still have time to turn this around,” Andres addressed the group one last time before leaving the stage.

As they all walked into the house, there was complete silence among the group. Everyone could feel the impact of their poor results tonight. 

“You four need to work your shit out,” Alicia broke the silence, pointing at Sergio, Raquel, Monica and Daniel. “You’ll fuck us all over if you don’t pull it together.”

“It’s not just them,” Julia rolled her eyes at Suarez who was looking smug. “He’s been wanting to get back at Raquel and Sergio for putting laxatives in his coffee.” When she noticed Raquel and Sergio’s shocked expressions, she added, “A producer told him.”

“She’s right,” he shrugged unapologetically.

“You deserved that and a lot more for peeing on my bed,” Raquel responded through gritted teeth.

“Okay,” Alicia held back the woman who she sensed was about to slap Suarez so hard he’d likely lose a tooth. “We’re not going to figure this out like this… as much as it pains me not to see beefcake get slapped.”

“Let’s all take a time-out,” Agata suggested. “Tonight, we relax. We don’t talk about the game. We let go of the bullshit. Let’s all chill the fuck out. We’re not going to win this game like this.”

“Fine,” Raquel sighed, pulling herself away from Alicia. “I’m going to bed,” she muttered, storming out of the room.

Sergio, seeing everyone’s eyes on him, decided he would take this opportunity to try and talk to her, “I’ll go make sure she’s okay…” he reassured the group, walking out of the room.

“They’re a perfect match, right?” Julia asked.

“God, I hope so,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “We don’t stand a chance if they aren’t.”

* * *

Raquel was in the closet gathering what she needed to get ready for bed, needing to sleep off this hellish couple of days. Between avoiding Sergio who kept looking at her with puppy dog eyes while she was trying to be mad at him and then whatever the fuck Suarez pulled, she needed a break from this torture. And the worst part was, they still had over a month left. How was she going to survive this?

She took her frustration out on her bag, at first pulling at the zipper too hard followed by dropping all of her belongings on the floor. This really wasn’t her night, she groaned to herself while she knelt down on the floor to pick everything up and placed it back into her suitcase.

“Hey,” she heard Sergio’s voice behind her.

Great, and now this night was getting even worse. She picked up her bag and put it back in the closet, grabbing her toiletries bag and pajamas.

“Hey,” she responded awkwardly, ready to make her way past him to avoid this awkward small talk. 

“Can we talk?”

“Sergio…” she sighed, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Usually, Sergio would leave it at that and let her move on with her routine and go back downstairs, but he knew if he walked away now, it would only get worse between them. “Please,” he pleaded softly, hating how pathetic he sounded but he felt at a loss with the way she’d been avoiding him for the past 24 hours (which felt like days in this game). 

“You’ve said enough, Sergio,” Raquel shook her head, denying his plea. 

“No, you put words in my mouth,” he countered. “And I’d like to have the opportunity to share with you how I’m feeling, but if you’re not ready for that, I can wait,” he reasoned with her, fearing if he pressured her now, the outcome may not be what he’d hoped.

“Fine,” she nodded, realizing that he was right. She never really gave him the chance to say how he felt, and the fact that he was being direct with her right now showed her just how much he wanted to make this right. She could see how much he was struggling with this, and she had to admit, she was flattered by it. She put her PJs and toiletries back in her space to show him she was willing to talk right now.

“Great,” he smiled and led her out of the closet towards the only private bedroom.

“Sergio…” she stopped him.

“For privacy,” he corrected her. “I unplugged the cameras so we can talk without this being on TV. That’s all,” he assured her while his hand moved to open the door.

“Okay,” she half-smiled and followed him inside the private bedroom. They had a lot more fun in here last time, she reminisced sadly while taking a seat on the bed. 

“I’m sorry,” he began while taking a seat on the bed, but keeping some distance between them out of respect for her. “Sometimes, I get lost in my mind rationalizing a situation that I don’t always realize what I’m implying. My brother yells at me for this all the time…”

“And what were you implying exactly?”

“I made you think this wasn’t real for me. That it was something to pass the time in here…”

“That’s very perceptive,” she responded skeptically.

“I talked to Silene and Agata,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’ll admit I had no idea what happened..”

“That makes more sense,” Raquel replied, fighting a small smile over how adorable it was that he was willing to talk to others to make it right with her.

“I never meant to imply that’s how I thought about you or us. I only meant that it may have been why Monica was holding back…”

“I know,” Raquel interrupted, stopping him from continuing. “I’m sorry too.”

“For what?”

“I used Monica’s problem as a way to see how you felt about us, and I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t fair to you,” she admitted. “The truth is that the reason I’ve been avoiding you is that…. I feel guilty.”

“What for?”

“For playing mind games with you. For expecting you to have a more romantic view of this game when you were right. All of this isn’t real life, and we need to start treating it like a game again,” she shrugged sadly.

“No, I wasn’t right,” Sergio denied. “This game is giving us a chance to explore something that neither of us would make time for in our daily lives.”

“Sergio…” she began to deny.

“I came into this expecting to leave this house the same way I came in: alone. I assumed I’d go back to my life and pretend it never happened but then I saw you. And you intrigued me from the start, and as much as I tried to deny it at first, getting to know you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. So please don’t think that I see you as a way to escape boredom or as something forced because we’re playing a game. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

Raquel was struggling to hold back tears over his declaration. She wasn’t expecting him to be so honest and romantic with his words, but he kept proving all of her assumptions about him wrong. 

Sergio was struggling to understand her silence. Was she processing this? Should he leave her be? “That’s all I wanted to say,” he smiled sadly while getting up from the bed to leave her alone to think about what he said.

“Wait,” she stopped him before he could get to the door. “The truth is I’m scared.”

“Scared?” He asked, turning back around to see her playing with a wrinkle in the bed sheet. 

“This is all new for you, and you deserve someone who can give you their full attention and effort. With me, you’re not just getting Raquel. I have a daughter and a mother who need me…”

“Raquel,” he smiled reassuringly while sitting next to her, “I went into this knowing exactly what I was getting into. I never would have kissed you if I didn’t want to meet and get to know your family.”

She smiled slightly at his declaration but then stopped herself, “And then there’s my ex husband…”

“And we’d deal with him together,” he quickly assured her. Again, the honesty of his words were staggering.

For the first time, she looked straight into his eyes to see just how earnest he was in his desire to be part of her life. She could feel a weight on her chest over just how meaningful this was. Over how rare it was to hear these words from someone.

“So, you’re telling me… you’re willing to get to know my mom and daughter?”

“Of course,” he nodded as if it were the most obvious thing. “Because I want a future with you.” he spelled out, finally saying the words she needed to hear, “And I know a future with you includes your family.”

She took a deep breath to hold back her tears, “I want that too,” she whispered.

“Oh thank god,” Sergio said while leaping towards her to kiss her with all of the emotion he’d been storing during this talk, showing her just how much she meant to him. His hands finding their favourite place in her hair as hers moved to his waist. 

She broke away from him abruptly, “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure,” he grinned, kissing her lips softly while urging her to move into the bed with him. “Tell me about them,” he encouraged as they got comfortable over the covers.

“Sergio, we’re currently in the boom boom room and you want to talk about my family?” She asked skeptically. 

“We have plenty of time to enjoy the room, but right now I want to learn more about Paula and Marivi.”

He even remembered their names, she teared up, completely touched by his attention to detail. She shifted her body next to his to lay her head on his chest and wrap her arm over his stomach in what was becoming their default position. 

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, “What’s Paula like?”

Raquel grinned, thinking about her daughter and told Sergio about how smart, sassy and outgoing she was. She shared funny stories from her childhood, and the two laughed together over a few of her comical parenting mistakes over the years and a few of her most recent conversations with her.

“I can’t wait to meet her,” Sergio admitted, “She sounds amazing.”

“I can’t wait for that too,” Raquel smiled, leaving an affectionate kiss on his chest. 

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a loud bang on the door. “I don’t know how long you plan to be in there, but there are other people who’d like to fuck!” They heard Alicia yell from the other side of the door.

“Just a minute!” Raquel groaned as she moved out of Sergio’s arms and walked to the door with him. When she opened it slightly, she first saw Alicia looking at her impatiently.

“Great,” Alicia groaned, “you two nauseating love birds are back together,” she rolled her eyes.

Raquel shook her head, used to Alicia’s attitude but could see it visibly affecting Sergio. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the room only to be met face to face with Alicia’s newest boom boom room partner. 

“Not a word,” Alicia stopped them and dragged the person next to her in the room, slamming the door.

“Did you know…”

“No, this is new,” Raquel shook her head in disbelief.

  
  
 **[cheesy voiceover]** _Who is with Alicia in the boom boom room?! Are Raquel and Sergio completely out of turbulent waters? Will Daniel be mature enough to get Monica back? What the fuck is Marseilles doing?_


	10. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is still reading this crack fic. HOW ARE THERE 10 CHAPTERS OF THIS CRAZY STORY?! I've truly loved writing it, and it means so much that there are people enjoying it. Every comment, kudos, tweet - all of it keeps me inspired to keep writing. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your feedback. It always makes my day to read your reactions.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

The following few days in the house had the contestants falling into a mundane routine of eating meals together, hanging by the pool, and spending the evenings enjoying a bonfire or sitting around the house. It was one of the rare no drama weeks which had the producers on edge because people getting along all day never made for a good TV. 

The morning of the next getaway competition, Raquel could feel something different in the air as she walked outside towards one of the lounge chairs to enjoy her morning coffee. Over the past week, she and Sergio had fallen into a comfortable routine. They would enjoy meals together and have long talks about their lives, music, books they’d read, etc. The more time they spent together, the more she knew in her heart that he was meant to be in her life. She worried things were going a bit too smoothly, and while she was trying to go with the flow and enjoy the moment, her mind was always ten steps ahead when it came to relationships given her disastrous report card.

In order to stop her anxiety from ruining her good mood, she reflected back on one particular conversation where he told her about how he’d nervously tripped over his own shoelace during his first lecture as a professor and nearly fell onto the first row of students; she couldn’t help but laugh as she took a sip of her coffee while enjoying a rare moment of solitude. Ever since she told him about her family, they had grown more comfortable with each other to share personal stories. And it was nice to know that their connection was more than physical attraction. They enjoyed conversing with each other whether it was an academic discussion, stories about their lives or even just random observations they made throughout the day. He was the first person in ages she felt completely comfortable with and as terrifying as it was, it also energized her. It gave her a reason to wake up each morning with a smile on her face, and she hoped she was bringing him the same amount of comfort and joy.

Her mind quickly went back to an hour earlier when she’d woken up to a soft kiss on her shoulder and his eyes looking into hers with such intensity. It sent shivers down her spine when reflecting on their morning, especially when she asked “ _What?”_

_“Nothing,” he replied, his eyes never leaving hers._

_“Sergio…” she warned playfully._

_“I don’t know how I got so lucky,” he admitted while pushing a piece of hair away from her face tenderly before kissing her lips. Her smile turned into a grin as she felt the impact of his words all over her body. Unable to resist him, her lips met his in again in a tender kiss._

_“THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM!!” Alicia yelled, annoyed by yet another mushy morning ritual from the world’s most nauseating couple._

_Suddenly, Sergio felt a pillow on his back and turned around to see Marseilles growling with his eyes partly closed._

_“Some of us are trying to sleep. Keep it down with that annoying shit.”_

_Raquel laughed with Sergio over the interruption, whispering in his ear how lucky she was too before moving out of his bed to start her day._

She could feel butterflies again just thinking about how sweet he was. While taking another long sip of her coffee and enjoying the heat from the morning sun on her body, she saw Agata walk over to a lounge chair on the opposite side of the pool. She frowned thinking about how the younger woman had been avoiding her for the past couple of days.

Quickly, she stood up and walked over to her, not allowing this rare moment of being alone together to pass.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Raquel sighed while taking a seat in the lounge chair next to Agata.

More silence.

“Agata,” Raquel tried again with a small smile, “I’m not judging what I saw. You can talk to me.”

Agata looked towards the pool, appearing like she was thinking about what to say and Raquel knew she was close to getting her to open up.

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

“No,” the younger woman denied quickly, finally speaking.

“What’s wrong, Agata? I can tell something is bothering you.”

“Nothing,” she shrugged. 

And suddenly, Raquel understood the body language. She wasn’t ashamed as she’d initially assumed, “You felt something…” she concluded.

When Agata’s only response was a sigh, Raquel continued. “Alicia is very guarded. Her last relationship really hurt her, and she’s been using this game to sleep with and fool around with as many people as possible to try and heal her own pain. I know it’s hard, but please try not to take anything she does personally.”

“The thing is, she felt it too,” Agata revealed, shocking Raquel. “She and I got really drunk after the match-up ceremony, and we were joking that we were the perfect match, and then I don’t know what happened…. Suddenly, we were all over each other and seeing you and Sergio didn’t even stop us…”

“Right…” Raquel nodded. “Are you sure it wasn’t the alcohol?”

“We did it again the next morning. Completely sober. And when it was over, she said it was terrible and she couldn’t believe what happened and ran out of the room.”

“You got to her,” Raquel understood. Alicia rarely ever lost composure, and the fact she did here was telling. Raquel made a mental note to talk to her friend when she was ready to let her walls down.

“She’s been avoiding me since and when we are in the same room, she glares at me as if I did this to hurt her,” she revealed sadly. 

“Oh honey,” Raquel empathized, moving off of her lounge chair to sit on the edge of Agata’s and grabbed her hand. “You scared her.”

“I didn’t see this coming,” Agata admitted. “I couldn’t even stand her until…”

“We never see it coming,” Raquel smiled while squeezing her hand.

“I guess it makes sense,” she considered. “She was always there for me in her own way when I was jealous of you and Sergio. She’d try to cheer me up or give me advice… in her Alicia way, but still…”

“She was pulling your pigtails and teasing you,” Raquel laughed, thinking about how it was a classic schoolyard crush.

“I don’t know what to do,” Agata sighed, feeling completely hopeless.

“I think you have to give her time,” Raquel offered sadly. “She’s not ready to feel like this again, and she’s trying to work through it in her own way.”

“And here I thought she was in love with you,” Agata confessed.

“No,” Raquel denied, “Maybe she wanted a friend with benefits,” she laughed, “but neither of us have feelings for each other in that way.”

“Thank god,” Agata sighed, “I didn’t want to lose another potential match to the great Raquel Murillo...” she laughed, but Raquel could hear her pain behind her attempt at humour.

“It was never-” Raquel stuttered.

“I know,” Agata reassured her friend by squeezing her hand and decided to change the subject. “Speaking of Sergio, how are things going?”

Raquel couldn’t hide her smile if she tried. “Honestly? It almost feels too good to be true.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Everything seems to work. We get along, we can talk for hours…”

“The sex is gooood,” Agata raised her eyebrows.

“More than goood. It’s the best I’ve ever had.”

“Really? Our Sergio? Who walks like a penguin with a rod up his ass?”

Raquel laughed over her too accurate description, “Yes, I didn’t see it coming either.”

As the two women laughed, Sergio walked up smiling, relieved to see them talking again. Raquel had been telling him all week how worried she was for her after they’d witnessed her going into the boom boom room with Alicia. 

“What’s so funny?” He asked while taking a seat in the lounge chair next to theirs.

“How penguins walk,” Agata laughed.

Sergio, completely unaware of their joke, decided to add to the conversation, “You know, a group of penguins is called rookery. They’re very social. They do everything together: eating, swimming, hunting and nesting... Reminds me a lot of this game actually,” Sergio considered while lost in thoughts over a documentary he’d recently watched on the species.

“Explains a lot,” Agata laughed, causing Raquel to join in as her eyes softened while looking at Sergio, the human encyclopedia. 

“What?” he asked as he grew more and more uncomfortable at the two women staring at him.

“You’re adorable,” Raquel smiled while standing up and moving towards him. “I’m going to go get ready for the competition. I’ll see you in a bit?”

“Of course,” he smiled when she leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “And I’m NOT adorable,” he countered as she began to walk away. “I’m not,” he turned to address Agata once Raquel was back in the house.

“I didn’t say anything,” she laughed.

* * *

“Welcome to your next getaway competition, everyone! We’re officially halfway through the game, so let’s make this week count,” Andres addressed the group with a large smile. “This week, we have a fun date planned: riding through the mountains on ATVs and then dinner on top of the mountain at sunset!”

“We’re winning this,” Raquel whispered to Sergio who was growing more nervous over seeing her competitive side appear again. 

“This week, we’re going to test your ability to work as a team. Everyone will pair up and cook me your perfect bowl of paella. We have many different ingredients to choose from. The catch? You’ll be attached at the hip and each partner can only use one hand.” Andres grinned, knowing the frustration of people having to work together like this would be hilarious to witness. “The two best dishes of my choosing will go on the dates today. Are you all ready?”

When everyone cheered, he added, “Now, pair up and choose a cooking station. Good luck everyone!”

Raquel quickly grabbed Sergio’s hand, feeling confident they had this competition in the bag. She’d been making paella with her mother since she was five and could do it in her sleep. “We’ve got this,” Raquel smiled victoriously.

“I’m not much of a cook… as you know,” Sergio commented nervously, wishing that confident smirk would leave her face. He really didn’t want to disappoint her.

“Follow my lead,” she smiled comfortingly when she saw the fear in his eyes.

The rest of the teams paired up, including Daniel and Monica; Sofia and Silene; Agata and Anibal; Alicia and Martin; Marseille and Helsinki; and Suarez and Julia.

What followed was twenty minutes of priceless TV as the group struggled to determine what ingredients to include, fought over how to chop vegetables, dropped utensils on the ground, and yelled at each other when any cooking mishap occurred. 

Sergio and Raquel, however, had this down to an art where she’d tell him what to do, and he’d simply nod and listen. Letting her take control was the safest way to get out of this without the wrath of competitive Raquel again. The bruises on his ass were finally healing after last week’s balloon competition.

“Bring it to a simmer,” Raquel instructed while she seamlessly cut vegetables with one hand. Finally, being a mother where her daughter was trying to get her attention while she was cooking was giving her an advantage in this game. The two worked together to peel the prawns to add into the pot, and Sergio marveled over how normal this felt. The idea of the two of them spending the night cooking together suddenly felt like the best time. And this coming from a man who lived on rice and beans when he wasn’t getting take-out. 

They added the pre-cooked chicken, sausage, seafood along with spices until they could smell the delicious aroma of their creation.

“This smells amazing,” Sergio grinned as he began to add in the rice. 

“How does it taste?” Raquel asked, taking a spoon and feeding him a large portion to ensure he got to taste many of the ingredients.

“Wow,” he moaned happily. “I didn’t know paella could be this good.”

“Not quite what my mom makes, but it’s the best we can do with these ingredients,” Raquel commented. She continued to stir the mixture until they only had minutes left. She had Sergio hold the bowl while she poured in their paella.

With seconds left, she and Sergio rearranged the prawns and added basil to garnish the top to ensure they won in both presentation and taste.

“Time’s up!” Andres grinned, returning onto the set while the PAs brought the seven bowls to a long table in front of him to taste. He had no idea who made what dish to eliminate his own bias when selecting winners.

During the taste testing, Andres noticed that Sergio’s arm was still casually around Raquel’s waist as she was leaning on him. He’d never seen his brother like this before and had to fight everything in him not to go over to and talk to the couple. Couple! His brother being in a couple! He honestly thought aliens would take over Earth before this happened.

When he tasted the first dish, he quickly spit it out. “Who put cinnamon in this?!” 

Silene shrugged and laughed at this reaction while he moved to the next dish.

“At least this one didn’t try to kill me,” he remarked. “Still disgusting,” he groaned when he felt a bitter aftertaste in the back of his throat. Marseilles and Helsinki laughed at his reaction.

“This one has the best presentation so far,” he marveled at the dish in front of him. When he brought a spoonful to his mouth, he was immediately hit with a myriad of flavours that screamed ‘traditional paella’. _Finally!_ “This one was delicious! Congrats to whoever made this.”

As Andres continued to go down the line, there were a couple of other dishes he enjoyed but the majority were garbage, and he was tempted to fire whoever thought it was a good idea to put him through this torture. “The winners are dish #3 and #6,” he announced, “So that is Sergio and Raquel and Monica and Daniel. Congratulations!”

Raquel turned around and hugged Sergio tightly, “We did it,” she grinned.

“Now, the rest of you have the important job of voting one of these two couples into the Truth Booth to see if they’re a perfect match,” he smirked at the two couples. Seems the house couldn’t go wrong with who they chose this week, he grinned.

* * *

Freshly showered and only wearing a towel around her body, Raquel walked into the large walk-in closet towards her belongings. She went through her clothes a few times annoyed that she didn’t have the foresight to pack something for a real date. Before coming onto this show, she’d assumed she’d stay in the background and not have felt the need to impress anyone, but here she was, struggling to find something that would be worthy of her first real date in eight years. She didn’t count the first week with Angel as she really wasn’t too invested in developing any kind of connection with him.

She knew Sergio would be the first person to say he didn’t care what she wore, but she was doing this as much for herself as for him. Even though they’ve been together for a week and have been intimate with each other quite a few times, this felt like the real beginning to what she hoped would be a long-term relationship between the two. So why didn’t she have an outfit to commemorate that?

While she continued roughly throwing her clothes around, Sergio walked into the room just in time to witness her throwing a shirt against the wall while muttering “ _fuck”_ under her breath. He tried to be amused by her frustration, but the second he saw the way her towel began to open on her thigh, the way her freshly cleaned skin was glistening and how her wet hair dripped on her bare shoulders, he had to take a moment to catch his breath. She truly was a vision. Even while in a war with her clothes.

“Are you okay?” He asked, finally moving her attention from her clothing options to him. 

Quickly, she tightened the towel frightened by his sudden presence, “You scared me,” she breathed out.

“Sorry,” he smiled briefly until he noticed the pile of clothes around her feet. “Why are your clothes all over the place?”

Raquel looked down at the pile by her feet embarrassed that this man who lived such an organized life was currently witnessing her own personal chaos. “You see, I have this date tonight. The first real one in eight years, and I don’t have anything to wear,” she shrugged helplessly.

“A date, huh?” Sergio teased. “He must be pretty special if you’re struggling with what to wear.”

“He’s okay,” Raquel joked while picking up her clothes and putting some back on hangers.

“Only okay?” he asked, faking disappointment.

“Yeah, he didn’t seem all that excited to be going on a date with me.”

“He didn’t?” Sergio asked, trying to hold back a smile. “I don’t think it’s possible for him not to be excited to be going on a date with the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.”

Covering her smile by turning away, Raquel picked up a couple of dresses she packed to evaluate them, “He didn’t,” she shrugged while hanging up a blue strapless dress while keeping a black one on her arm as an option.

“That’s too bad,” he whispered, walking closer to her. “Maybe I could stand in for him…”

“You?” She asked, pretending to be shocked by his offer. “I didn’t think you were interested in dating anyone…”

“I could make an exception,” he teased while placing a hand on her towel covered hip. “The other guy doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

“And why should I pick you?” She asked breathily, her eyes moving to his hand on her that was now softly rubbing her hip through the fabric of her towel.

Sergio moved closer and bent over slightly to bring his lips to her neck, leaving soft kisses down to her collarbone. 

“You make an interesting argument,” she grinned, “but I’m still not convinced.”

He continued to kiss down her neck to where he was met with the fabric of the towel. He quickly opened it to get a full view of her naked body. He stopped for a split second, taking all of her in while the towel fell on the floor. Her beauty never ceased to make him breathless.

“I’m not hearing any arguments,” she teased, watching him staring up and down her body somewhat paralyzed.

At her teasing, his brain seemed to wake up as his lips began to kiss down her chest again, stopping at the top of her right breast. He looked up to see the look of anticipation across her face and grinned. He loved that he could make her feel this way. It was now one of his greatest life achievements.

He began to kiss her breast softly, teasing around her nipple to further build up her anticipation. Not ready to give in, he moved his mouth back up to her chest to her other breast and repeated the same pattern of wet kisses while purposely ignoring her hard nipple that was begging him for attention.

“Sergio,” she whined, “If this is how you plan to win me over, I’ll go with the other guy…”

She could feel the vibration of his laugh over her nipple, sending a wave of pleasure through her. His tongue was finally on her nipple giving it gentle licks around and over it as he listened to her breathing to determine which pattern made her react the strongest. When he put his mouth over her nipple and gave it a gentle suck, he heard a low moan escape from her lips. He loved the way her body was loosening gradually, the tension he saw before disappearing as she gave into the pleasure of his mouth.

“Sergio,” she whispered as his tongue circled her nipple, feeling the tingles of pleasure in her core.

Knowing they had limited time, he knelt on the floor and began to kiss down her stomach to the place he knew she was yearning to be touched. He stopped for a second when his mouth had made it to her centre, taking in its beauty for a moment - the neatly trimmed hair, her perfect slit, how it smelled. He couldn't wait to taste her again. 

Slowly, he ran his tongue along her slit to ensure she was ready for this. Immediately, he could feel how wet she was and grinned knowing he was the cause of it. He continued to run his tongue up and down her with more momentum, getting lost in her folds. With every lick and suck, he heard her breaths grow shallower and deeper.

“Fuck,” she groaned when his mouth wrapped around her clit and sucked.

Soon, they had a steady rhythm. One of her hands was holding onto the wall behind her while the other was in his hair, pushing it towards her softly when she needed him to suck harder. His hands moved to her ass to bring her even closer to him as he increased the speed of his licks and kisses all along her opening. When he sensed she was getting closer to orgasm, his tongue moved even faster and harder over her clit, completely consumed by her sweet and tangy taste.

Raquel thrust herself into him as the waves of pleasure began to overtake her body. She began to shake on his mouth and he sucked even harder through her orgasm, causing her to scream with pleasure. They forgot they were currently in a house with 14 other contestants and countless camera operators. All that existed at the moment was Sergio’s talented tongue. 

Moving away from her once her body finally stopped shaking from such a powerful orgasm and a few mini aftershocks, Sergio looked up at the woman who had captured his heart. Her eyes were still closed, her teething biting her lower lip and her hand holding onto the wall for support. She truly was a vision.

Standing up, he made sure to take in her naked body one last time until his eyes met hers. “So, do I get the date?”

“Oh shit, the date!” Raquel panicked, grabbing the towel from the floor and wrapping it around her body. 

“Contestants, we’ll be leaving for the dates in 20 minutes,” they overheard one of the PAs on the intercom. 

“Well?” Sergio asked, amused when she began to grab her things hastily to get ready.

“You passed the test,” she said quickly, “Now, no more distracting me!”

“Do I at least get a kiss?” Sergio pouted, hating that their intimate moment had been interrupted so abruptly.

“You’ll get a kiss if the date goes well,” she smirked playfully and ran out of the closet.

He laughed over how adorable she was before grabbing his toiletries to take a quick shower. For the first time in his life, he was excited to go on a date. What a surprising feeling.

* * *

While Sergio, Raquel, Monica and Daniel were on their dates, the rest of the contestants sat around the couch, debating which couple to put into the Truth Booth.

“I think this is an obvious choice,” Silene began. ‘Daniel and Monica.”

“I agree,” Agata replied. “They sat together week 2 and if they’re a match, we’ll learn a lot.”

“I agree as well,” Helsinki smiled. ‘Besides, it’s pretty obvious that Sergio and Raquel are a match, and we need them to win this game.”

“Exactly!” Silene smiled. “We’d be fucked if we lost them.”

Alicia cleared her throat annoyed by the insinuation they needed those two to win the game. “We don’t need them,” she countered. “You have me…”

“Have you been paying attention to anyone other than who you’ve been fucking?” Silene demanded, knowing that Alicia barely gave this game any attention.

“Of course, you’re clearly a match with Anibal even though you’re too stubborn to see it, I’m pretty sure Sofia and Marseille are a match even though they have yet to speak, and I’m guessing as boring as they are, Monica and Daniel are too.” 

“Wow…” Julia commented.

“You’re welcome,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “Not just a pretty face.”

“Who is your match?” Sofia asked.

Alicia looked at Agata briefly and then tore her eyes away angrily, “That doesn’t matter…”

“What about Sergio and Raquel?” Julia asked in an effort to get this conversation back on the task at hand.

“They’re probably a match too,” Alicia shrugged. “And a headache to watch, so I say we vote them in so I stop getting woken up by their early morning giggles and loud kisses.”

“I second that,” Marseille finally spoke.

“It makes no sense to put them in,” Agata argued. “Daniel and Monica need to know if they’re a match otherwise they are wasting time having all of this anxiety on their relationship.”

“Exactly, and we learn about week two results,” Silene added.

“Fine,” Alicia shrugged. “But you’re switching beds with me so I don’t have to hear that disgusting mushy bullshit.”

“Deal,” Silene smiled triumphantly. “So we’re in agreement? Daniel and Monica?”

As everyone nodded, Martin stood away from the group looking at the two options on the screen and then back to the group with a smirk on his face. “Not so fast,” he voiced.

* * *

Sergio stood on top of a mountain blown away by the view of the island and ocean ahead of him. He rarely took the time to enjoy nature before this, but he’d never make that mistake again. There was a calmness he felt being up here, isolated from the world as he waited for the woman he was falling for to appear for the second part of their date.

He couldn’t help but chuckle reflecting back on when they drove ATVs on the narrow roads around the mountains. Raquel was like a kid at a candy store hitting every bump, jump and screaming in happiness every time she did. He’d never seen her look so free since their time in the house and he was thankful he got to witness it. Of course, there was one moment where she took a curve too quickly and was yelled at by the tour guide. The two had laughed together like she’d been reprimanded from the teacher in school. He loved how she was a bit of a daredevil and knew how to enjoy a moment to its full potential. Every experience with her was making him even more sure that she is meant to be in his life. She showed him what it meant to live in the moment without even realizing she was doing it. 

And then the moment where they stopped for an incredible view of the city below them was something he’d never forget. The tour guide had a camera and had asked them to pose. She had immediately jumped into his arms causing the two of them to laugh while their photo was being taken. When he saw the preview on the guide’s screen, he could see the joy they were both feeling at that moment. Again, he was shocked by how she could easily push him to feel happiness in _the_ moment rather than thinking 10 steps ahead of it as he’d always done.

He walked over to the table set up by the production staff and poured two glasses of red wine while he waited for her and the camera operators to appear. They had given her time to freshen up and change before this portion of the date. The only aspect of the date he was dreading was that every moment was being filmed for TV. Many people would see clips of the moment that he already deemed one of the most special in his life, and he hated that he had to share this with strangers. He wished this was something just for them.

While taking a sip of his wine, he saw her walk towards him and suddenly all of his worries vanished. His jaw dropped over how stunning she was in a loose black summer dress, her hair down in soft curls and a dark red lip. And with the sun setting behind her, she’d never looked more perfect. How did he get so lucky again?

He stood up as she walked over to him, the two of them smiling at each other thankful to be sharing this together.

“You look amazing,” he grinned, taking her into his arms for a tight hug. 

“You do too,” she grinned while taking in his black pants and white collared shirt. Simple but so very Sergio.

The two took a seat at the table and looked at each other for a moment unsure of how to start this date. What made it more awkward were the three camera operators on all sides of them as a crew of people stood around them to ensure they captured this scene for the show.

“It’s so easy to forget about cameras in the house, but this is…” Raquel commented, overwhelmed by the crew surrounding what was supposed to be a romantic date.

“Just pretend like we’re not here,” a producer smiled, urging them to start their date as they only had an hour to capture this.

“Easier said than done,” Raquel mumbled, causing Sergio to laugh. First dates were awkward enough, but this added a whole new layer of scary to it.

Sergio, deciding to be the one try and pretend it was just the two of them, started the conversation. “Please tell me you don’t drive like that around Madrid,” he laughed thinking back to how reckless she was on her ATV.

“I’m a trained police officer,” she defended playfully, “I was always in control.”

When she noticed Sergio’s skeptical expression, she corrected herself. “Ok, other than that stupid corner, but I didn’t tip over!”

Sergio broke out in a laugh, “You amaze me.” 

“How so?” she smiled, getting lost in how he was looking at her with complete adoration.

“The way you live in the moment. I’ve never had this much fun before in my life,” he grinned in an attempt to convey how thankful he was for her.

Raquel, however, saw a slight flicker of pain in his eyes when he said it and couldn’t help but take this opportunity to try and learn more about him. “Tell me more about you,” she encouraged. “I’ve told you so much about my life, but I don’t know a lot about yours.”

“What do you want to know?” he asked, allowing himself to be open with her emotionally for the first time.

Raquel thought for a moment and her mind went back their first real conversation in the house, “You had mentioned you wanted to use the money from this to start your own version of the Innocence Project. I’d love to know more about why.”

Sergio took a deep breath, debating how much he could push himself to reveal, but when he saw her eyes looking at him with such care and encouragement, he felt himself trusting her even more. And for a few minutes, the cameras were forgotten, and it was just the two of them. “My father was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit,” Sergio revealed solemnly.

“What happened?” she asked, shocked by what he'd just shared/

“We were pretty poor when I was younger. And I was a sick kid who spent most of my time in hospitals, and every spare penny he made went towards paying for experimental treatments, tutors and everything I needed to live a ‘normal’ life.”

“Wow…” Raquel gasped and took his hand in hers from across the table. “He sounds like an amazing guy.”

“He was,” Sergio nodded. Immediately, Raquel heard the change in tense and knew exactly what he’d meant as she too had lost her father years ago. She squeezed his hand to convey that she understood. Sergio was blown away by how easy she was making this on him. He’d rarely shared this story with anyone outside of his family, and he definitely never shared it with a date.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered comfortingly, feeling his pain radiating from his change in body language. The hurt in his eyes, the way his shoulders slumped forward, and how his free hand played with the table cloth nervously. “You don’t have to keep going.”

“I want to,” he smiled while squeezing her hand back in gratitude. “When I was in remission, life started to get better. I went to high school for a couple of years, my brother was able to go to university in Italy, and my dad got a full time job as a waiter in a luxury restaurant.”

“What about you mom?” Raquel asked, noting a missing in his story.

“She died giving birth to me,” he revealed, his voice growing softer talking about the woman he’d never got to meet.

“Oh Sergio,” she sighed, feeling tears beginning to form over how much pain he’d experienced in his life. Suddenly, his approach to relationships made so much sense.

“It’s okay,” he smiled over how genuinely empathetic she was. “Anyway, when I was about to graduate high school, there was a high profile murder at the restaurant, and my dad was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Shit…”

“And we didn’t have the money to hire a good lawyer to poke holes in the planted evidence, so he was arrested and the case went to trial, but no one really tried to investigate the actual motive of the murder. Why would a waiter kill a random customer? All of a sudden, stories were being invented that he’d had an affair with her and that he’d lost control of his feelings… none of it was true. He was with me every night helping me with my homework so I could get scholarships to the best universities.”

“Sergio…”

“And then after a couple of years in prison and while I was studying law, I met a professor who was willing to help. We went over the case together and he immediately knew how to help him, and we started working on building a case to clear his name. We had raised enough money for a lawyer, and as soon as whoever was behind the murder discovered what we were doing, they had my father murdered in prison.”

Raquel couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. This story sounded familiar. She suddenly thought back to a recent case she’d been working on as she'd felt a sense deja-vu from what he revealed, “Manuel Marquina was your father?”

Sergio, who also had tears in his eyes, was shocked when he heard her say his father’s name, “How…”

“I recently read about the case when I was trying to prove someone’s innocence to my colleagues. It was so clear to me in the report that Manuel was innocent, and it broke my heart that people prioritized closing the case as quickly as possible over the truth. I can’t believe he was your father. I’m so sorry, Sergio…”

“You don’t know how much it means to me that you believed in him,” he barely got out as he fought all of the emotions that wanted to escape from his body – sadness, grief, love. Grief for the life his father was robbed of and love for a woman he’d only known for weeks who seemed to understand his pain in a way he'd never experienced with anyone. She was tearing down the walls he’d built around himself for the past 20 years.

“And this is why you want to start the innocence project. In memory of you father… wow,” she breathed out, amazed by how big his heart was. He truly was the most amazing man and she wondered how she’d gotten so lucky to see into that heart.

“I’m not the type of person who can let something like that go...I’ll spend my whole life clearing his name and making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” he said with conviction.

“I want to help you,” she offered while while wiping a tear from her cheek. “If you’re open to having a partner…”

“I’ve never had a partner before,” he admitted, touched by what she was offering him. 

“There’s a first time for everything…”

“Seems to be the theme of me meeting you,” he smiled, all of his affection for her shining through his eyes. 

Raquel, blown away by the depth of his words, got out of her seat and kissed him to convey just how much she cared for him. Short but passionate kisses that were meant to provide him with comfort and reassurance that he wasn’t alone anymore. 

He pushed his chair back to make room for her to sit on his lap as the two held on to each other, allowing themselves to find comfort in the silence after such a significant moment. When a camera operator got closer to capture the hug, they were suddenly reminded that they weren’t alone.

Deciding this was enough talking about their personal lives on camera for today, Raquel changed the subject, “Do you think we’re going to be voted to go in the Truth Booth tonight?”

“They would be stupid to lose both of us,” He admitted arrogantly.

“True,” she laughed. “So, you think we’re a perfect match?” she asked shyly.

“I’ve thought so since our first fight when you yelled at me for wanting to play this game too objectively.”

“And here I thought I scared you into thinking I was some crazy lady,” she laughed and he quickly joined in over how absurd her assumption was.

“No,” he denied. “I was amazed how you could challenge me intellectually and immediately thought you were my match.”

“Wow,” she smiled through tears. “And I was thinking Agata was your match at the time…”

“She’s a great woman, but… she wasn’t you. And I wanted you from the start,” he admitted honestly.

Raquel looked at him in disbelief over how romantic he could be without even realizing it. She kissed him again, this time not holding back how she felt for him as her tongue ran over his briefly. Growing more and more lost in the kiss, her hands found their way in his hair while his were running up and down her back sensually. They forgot that they had at least 15 people watching them and three cameras surrounding them. All that existed were the feelings of pleasure and happiness they felt with every kiss.

Raquel was the first to break away, looking into his eyes with such intensity. “How did I get so lucky with you?” she asked with tears still in her eyes.

Sergio smiled, thinking back to their earlier conversation. “So, I guess I was a good replacement for your date?” 

Raquel laughed, loving how they could go from having such a serious conversation to teasing each other. “You were okay,” she joked.

“Only okay?” his eyes widened. He brought his hands down to her hips and began to tickle her. She shrieked at first followed by laughter.

“Okay, Okay…You were so much better. That other guy never stood a chance,” she assured him with an over exaggerated sigh.

“Better,” he smiled and kissed her lips lightly.

Raquel looked up to see they only had five more minutes before they wrapped up shooting their date. “Are you nervous at all?”

“About what?”

“The Truth Booth?”

“I think they’d be dumb not to vote Monica and Daniel. They sat together week two and I think they need to know whether they’re a match or not to move forward in this game.”

“That makes rational sense but remember who’s doing the voting.”

“Right,” Sergio agreed and then looked into her eyes reassuringly. “No matter what happens, it’s you and me. So no, I’m not nervous.”

“You and me,” she nodded while repeating his words.

“And that’s a wrap,” one of the crew members announced to the group. “Amazing date, Sergio and Raquel. You both had half the crew crying.”

“I should be annoyed that they all got a front row seat to this date,” Raquel commented while leaning her forehead against his, “But they’re right. This was the best date I’ve ever been on. Thank you for opening up about your father.”

“It was for me too,” he kissed her cheek. “But hopefully the next time we do something like this, there aren’t any cameras…” he confessed, feeling awkward that such a vulnerable moment may be televised for thousands of people to see.

“I agree,” she laughed while hugging him into her while still on his lap unable to ignore her glee over how casually he said "next time". The two took in the final seconds of bliss they felt after such an amazing day together. If this was a taste of what life would be like together for the two of them, they knew their futures were bright.

* * *

Hours later, all of the contestants sat in the living room couch with Sergio, Raquel, Monica and Daniel on stools behind everyone ready for the Truth Booth ceremony.

Andres walked into the room smiling with the knowledge that this week would be a turning point in the game, and he couldn’t wait to get started.

“Good evening, everyone,” he smiled at the large group. “How were the dates?”

“Good,” Monica smiled. “Daniel and I finally talked, and I think we could have a future after this.”

Daniel smiled in agreement, “I learned that I needed to stop being so defensive and listen to her when she’s trying to tell me how she feels. I think I may finally be getting lucky tonight!” He laughed, his signature chuckle causing the rest of the house to join in.

“How could you say that?,” Monica rolled her over how crude he was, announcing that she was ready to take the next step in front of everyone.

“I meant about you making me brownies," he corrected. "She told me she makes the best brownies…” he addressed the group.

“Sure, brownies,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “You’re not 15 anymore. Just say fuck her brains out.”

“Oh hey! No! I didn’t mean that…”

“He’s right,” Monica stepped in, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks. “I did promise to make him brownies.”

“I can confirm this,” Raquel jumped in. “They were talking about toppings in the car ride back here…”

“You’re weird,” Alicia rolled her eyes as the rest of the group laughed over how ridiculous this was.

“What about you and Raquel, Sergio?” Andres asked, ignoring the idiocy he’d just been forced to listen to. He was very interested in what his brother would say about this date. The one thing he hated about this game was how little time he had to talk to him when he knew his brother was experiencing love for the first time. He wanted to know _everything._

“Uhhh,” Sergio adjusted his glasses awkwardly with everyone staring at him, “It was great.” he summarized quickly.

Raquel couldn’t hold back a small laugh over how awkward he felt by this pressure to talk about his feelings and grabbed his hand. “It was,” she confirmed. “I learned a lot about Sergio today, and he truly has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met before.”

Andres smiled at the way she was describing his brother. He’d been saying this for years, but he had such a hard time showing it to people. Had he achieved the unthinkable and showed it to Raquel?

“What did you learn?” Andres asked, curious as to what Sergio would reveal. It would say a lot about how he felt for this woman.

“He uhh.. He told me about his father and why he wants to start a law firm like the Innocence Project. It’s a tragic story, but he’s so inspiring to turn that pain into something that could help a lot of people.” Raquel revealed while smiling lovingly at Sergio. He was growing more and more embarrassed by her gushing over him to his brother (although she didn’t know that yet).

“Wow,” Andres commented while processing this information. He couldn’t remember anyone that Sergio had shared that story with other than the professor who had tried to help them. “It sounds like you’re both getting really close.”

“We are,” Sergio confirmed, squeezing her hand that had been holding his while giving his brother a warning look to not push this any further. 

“I’m happy for you,” Andres smiled genuinely, looking straight into his brother's eyes. When he remembered he was hosting a show, he quickly added, Both.”

“Thank you,” Sergio smiled back, understanding the meaning behind his brother’s look. It meant a lot to have his support right now. He had to admit he feared his reaction to him finding love in this game, but to see genuine happiness in his eyes eased those fears.

“Now, it’s time to see who you all voted into the Truth Booth. This is your chance to see if either of these couples are a perfect match, so let’s see who you chose this week,” Andres smiled. 

There was silence as they all watched the TV to see who the other contestants had selected. Raquel scanned the room during this time and could see a look of guilt on many faces. Why were people looking guilty? 

Her question was quickly answered when her and Sergio’s photos appeared on the screen. They’d voted them in the Truth Booth rather than Monica and Denver? Were they stupid?

“Sergio and Raquel,” Andres announced. “It’s time for you two to go to the Truth Booth.” With that final statement, he left the room.

Raquel shook her head in disbelief over the selection. How were they going to win this game now with her and Sergio out of commission? Were these people really so dumb? She stood up with Sergio and took his hand in hers as the two walked outside of the house towards the hut where they’d discover their future in this game.

One on hand, the idea of leaving this house for private time with Sergio felt like an amazing option. They could finally get to know each other without cameras or the pressure of the game; however, she came in here to win the money, and if they failed, she didn’t know how she could help her mother. Did this connection just ruin her mother’s future? It tore her apart to even think about.

Sergio wasn’t fairing much better in his mind as he also thought about how this twist could really hurt the game. He had promised he’d help win the money for Raquel’s mother on the first night, and now he could be the reason she doesn’t win it. He also thought about how he needed the money to make his own goal of opening his law firm come into fruition. Had they made a mistake winning this date? 

In Sergio’s mind, there was no doubt she was his match in this game. There was no one else who he matched with both intellectually and emotionally. She challenged him in the ways he needed to be challenged, and he knew that he offered her stability and order to her own life. They made sense on paper just as much as they did in real life.

They both walked into the booth, Raquel having flashbacks to the night she was in here with Angel when she prayed he wasn’t her match. And this time, all she wanted was for Sergio to be her match. She knew the future of the game could suffer, but he was the only person she felt she matched with in the house. It surprised her. She didn’t see it coming. But they worked together in a way she’d never experienced before, and the more she got to know him, the more she realized he was exactly what she asked for. Someone who would be her partner. Who cared about making this world a better place. And who could love her for who she was and not who they wanted her to be. 

The couple stood on the tape in the middle of the booth, getting into position to see their fate unfold on the screen in front of them. 

_Nerves._

They were both terrified. They knew what their hearts wanted and hopefully the game matched what they were feeling.

When the TV screen started to flash, he grabbed her hand, linking their fingers together. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered reassuringly while kissing the top of her head. She grinned and leaned her body into his while squeezing his hand. They both took a deep breath while they waited for the results to appear on screen. It felt like hours had past when in reality it had been less than a minute.

The rest of the contestants started intensely at the screen, the room so quiet they could hear a pin drop. This was a big moment in the game, and everyone was terrified of the outcome.

A few more seconds passed and then a box appeared on the screen.

_NO MATCH_

“What?!” Silene yelled in shock. “Are you kidding me?!”

Everyone else stared at the screen completely bewildered and unsure of how to process this information. They were all so sure they selected a perfect match. _How were these two not a perfect match?!_

Alicia shrugged while staring at the results seemingly unfazed, “Now, we know. Too bad they have to break up now.”

**[cheesy voice]** _What. The. Fuck._


	11. The Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments and tweets on the last chapter! I loved reading all of your reactions (and a threat) about the big twist. The mystery surrounding the matches won't be revealed until the end of the story, but I hope this chapter gives you a couple of potential possibilities for why they weren't a match.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this crazy chapter. As always, I LOVE reading all of your feedback. I'm so bad at responding to everything, but I'll try to be better on this chapter and answer all comments, questions and suggestions. I really do appreciate every bit of feedback - short and long. So thank you to everyone who takes the time to share their thoughts. Your enthusiasm for this story has made it what it is. :)

_ NO MATCH  _

Raquel opened and closed her eyes ten times as if the problem was her vision and not the words written across the screen. They weren’t a match? How was that possible?

Sergio, also in shock, removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt to see if a spec of dust had been covering the word “perfect”. 

This made no sense. There was no one in this game who was a better match for him than Raquel; however, he thought back to how little care he put into the prep for this game and how he thoughtlessly answered questions about his ideal partner. And he knew very few people in his life would have an idea of the type of person he’d finally fall in love with after so many years. Was this his fault? He never expected to fall for someone in this game, but he also never dreamed he’d meet Raquel Murillo. 

“Well…” Raquel breathed out. She could feel herself choking up over the news. She tried to tell herself it was ridiculous as this was only a game, but she couldn’t stop the tears from forming. It was a game that brought someone she never expected into her life. A person who respected and cared for her in a way she’d never felt before. How dare it tell her that this person wasn’t her ‘match’? What the fuck did the idiots who ran this show know about compatibility anyway?

Sergio pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head comfortingly. “I really hate this game,” he said, unable to hold back his frustration at the result.

Raquel moved her head back to look him in the eyes and attempted to smile through her tears, “Me too.” 

Not caring that they were being filmed or what a TV screen said, Sergio moved closer to kiss her. Via his lips, he tried to convey just how much she meant to him. Every kiss, lick, and nip was confirmation of his affection for her. They didn’t need a game to confirm what they knew was true in their hearts. The only question that hung between them was  _ what did they do now? _

Raquel broke the kiss, loving the fact he was lightly biting her lip as she pulled away. As he’d grown more comfortable with her over the past couple of weeks, she noticed he got bolder in his kisses. She knew they’d only known each other for a short few weeks but couldn’t this game see his growth? Couldn’t it see hers? Was this result only for ratings?

She smiled at him lovingly before snuggling her head into his chest. Wrapping her arms around his waist tightly, she whined into his shirt,“I don’t want to face everyone.” 

_ Everyone else. Shit. _ Sergio forgot about the part where not only did they need to work out what this meant for their relationship in here but also how the rest of their nosy house mates would react. This really was a nightmare.

She pulled away, grabbing his hand to lead him outside of the booth when the producer asked them to answer questions about their thoughts on not being a match. They both decided to shrug it off as the outcome being part of the game to avoid giving this show what it wanted: capitalizing on their pain for views. 

“Raquel,” Monica greeted at the door, pulling her friend away from Sergio and into her arms. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Raquel attempted to smile. “This is part of the game,” she reminded her in an attempt to stay optimistic.

“I know,” she pouted, “But you both have the strongest connection in the house, so it scares me that you’re not a match. What does this mean for all of us?”

“It means Sergio and I got it wrong. It doesn’t mean you did,” Raquel reassured as she walked towards the rest of the contestants who were quietly standing around the kitchen counter.

“Why do you all look like someone died?” Raquel asked, attempting to brighten the mood.

“Love died tonight,” Silene pouted while doing something that shocked everyone, pulling Raquel into a hug.

Raquel squeezed the young woman tighter to provide some comfort but continued acting as if what happened wasn’t so significant. “Nothing died,” she assured the young woman by rubbing her hands up her back comfortingly. “A computer said Sergio and I are not a blue beam in a game. Now, we know, and we keep moving forward.”

“Does that mean you’re both breaking up?” Sofia asked while leaning back on the counter. Raquel could hear a bit of hope in the woman’s tone and frowned.

“Why would we break up?” She asked, confused by the question.

“Raquel,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “We’re not going to win this game if you and Sergio are fucking each other every night. You both need to figure out who your match is.”

“Exactly,” Sofia agreed. “It’s not fair to the people who are actually your matches.”

“She’s right,” Suarez smirked, loving that these two people were getting a taste of karma. “What if I’m your match, Raquel?”

“You’re not,” she rolled her eyes in disgust.

Sergio, remaining quiet, used this opportunity to scan the body language of everyone in the room. He noticed that many were looking quite guilty. That’s not what he was expecting as a reaction to their results. What was going on?

“Why didn’t you all vote for me and Daniel?” Monica finally asked, unable to hide her confusion of what had just happened.

“Exactly,” the younger man joined in. “We have sat together for weeks. We would have learned more about the game.”

Alicia shrugged, “Someone convinced us that Raquel and Sergio were a perfect match, and they were wrong,” she answered, staring straight at Martin who had the audacity to smirk.

Of course Martin was behind this, Sergio fumed. 

“What’s done is done,” Raquel replied in an attempt to keep the peace. “This result wouldn’t have changed if we waited a couple of weeks.”

“So what now?” Julia asked while snacking on some carrots.

“We have a match up ceremony tomorrow, and I think we focus on who the pairings are for this week,” Raquel offered, wanting to get the heat off of her and Sergio. She wasn’t about to let this house see how deeply these results were affecting her. Just the idea of Sergio choosing someone else was enough to make her want to disappear in her bed for days.

“Raquel’s right,” Agata agreed.

“And what about you and Sergio?” Silene asked.

“Sergio and I need to talk first,” Raquel informed them honestly, “The last thing either of us wants is to jeopardize the game.”

“Good,” Sofia replied. “Because we’re all in here to find our perfect matches. No one should have any claim over anyone until they are confirmed in that booth. That’s why we’re losing.”

“I agree,” Raquel nodded sadly. 

“What?” Sergio finally spoke up when he heard the defeat in her voice. What was she implying?

“We have to start playing this game the way it was meant to be played,” Raquel shrugged, offering him a half-hearted smile. “Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to go take a shower and get ready for bed. I’m exhausted.”

Sergio didn’t miss her slumped shoulders as she walked out of the room. She was in pain. He could feel it radiating from her, but knew the last thing she wanted was for the rest to see through her lackadaisical attitude. 

“I’ll talk to her,” Monica offered, looking straight at Sergio sympathetically. 

* * *

When Sergio noticed Martin slip out of the room towards the seating area near the pool, he quickly followed him. He knew there was only one person in this game who could give him answers over what had just happened.

“Martin,” Sergio greeted while taking a seat next to him. The other man was currently lighting a cigar as if nothing had just occurred in the house.

“What a bummer, eh my friend?” Martin commented while taking his first puff. 

“Tell me,” Sergio began, “Why did you convince everyone to vote for us?”

“I thought you and Raquel were the perfect match,” he shrugged while taking another drag of his cigar using it as a shield from what he knew was about to come.

“Then why vote us in there when Monica and Denver could have given us a lot of information about week two?”

“I didn’t think they were a match. A waste of time.”

Sergio rolled his eyes. He knew this attitude from Martin. A mixture of aloofness and smugness, and it grated on his nerves every time. It was his way of holding in a secret. The last time he acted like this he knew about Andres’ most recent divorce before him.

“Cut the shit,” Sergio demanded, his anger growing with every puff of smoke that left Martin’s mouth. “What do you know?”

“Why would I know anything?”

“You forget that I know you,” Sergio rolled his eyes.

“Why do you care so much?” Martin shrugged. “You never believed in this game until you started getting a good lay every night.”

Sergio’s fists clenched at his side over the way he was demeaning his connection with Raquel. “You encouraged me to go after her…”

“I did,” Martin confirmed while putting out his cigar. “But then you turned into some helpless pansy, and that’s the last version of Sergio Marquina we need to win this game.”

“So you knew we weren’t a match and you still encouraged it…”

“No, I didn’t know,” he denied, the first bit of honesty in his tone.

“What changed?”

“Why? You know the truth now, so why does any of this matter?” He continued to ignore the question, growing more and more frustrated by Sergio’s attitude.

“Because it matters,” Sergio sighed while sitting back in his seat, feeling the emotions of what just happened finally whipping through his body. He didn’t want to admit that this game had the power to hurt him, but he couldn’t help the fact that his heart shattered when he read “no match”. It was the last thing he wanted to read on that screen with Raquel by his side.

“You really like her,” Martin concluded while watching his best friend’s brother struggle with a broken heart for the first time.

“Of course I do!” Sergio exclaimed as if it was obvious, “And she’s hurting right now…and I don’t know how to fix it,” he sighed while leaning forward in his seat and putting his face in his hands.

Martin looked down for a moment to avoid seeing the pain in Sergio’s body language. He didn’t just like Raquel. Shit, what had this game done? “You love her.”

“What?” Sergio choked. “I never said-”

“You don’t have to,” Martin smiled genuinely for the first time. “I can see it.”

“I don’t want to lose her over something as silly as a ‘no match’ verdict in the world’s dumbest dating show.”

“I admit I did convince the house to vote the two of you in the Truth Booth. The plan was Monica and Daniel,” he finally revealed.

“Why? What changed?”

“A producer told me that in order to win this game, we had to split you two up. As soon as he said that, I knew you weren’t a match, and the longer you were blind to it, the less likely we were to win this,” he revealed sadly. 

“Do you know who my match is?” Sergio asked, hating that the show interfered in the flow of the game like this. 

“No, I don’t know anything,” he confessed, and Sergio knew he was being honest again. “I’m sorry I caused this…”

“You didn’t,” Sergio looked down, frowning as he focused on putting together the pieces of what happened. “You were given information to bring drama to the game. They played you.”

Martin simply nodded in response, hating to see how this game could permeate in someone’s brain when they’ve become so invested in it for weeks. It amazed him how after only a few weeks the game became the guide they lived by. As absurd as a ‘no match’ was to anyone watching from the outside, the strength of it could be felt in the air. The immensity of a game like this caused them to lose rational thought, and that terrified Martin for Sergio. Even if Sergio and Raquel could work through this, they would face the pressure of not only the other contestants but also the producers to honor the written rules of the game.

“What does this mean for you and Raquel?” Martin asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Sergio sighed, his heart feeling as though it was pounding outside of his chest. In all of his fears and hesitations with getting closer to Raquel, this was the last obstacle he expected them to have to deal with.

* * *

Sergio walked into the large communal bedroom in his PJs only to find Raquel laying in her own bed for the first night in over a week. It pained him to see how hard she was taking this, and how deeply she was absorbing the words of their fellow contestants. He wished there was something he could do to take this burden off of her heart.

“Hey,” he greeted in a soft comforting tone as an attempt to convey how much he cared for her with one simple word.

“Hi,” she mumbled sadly into her pillow.

“Raquel,” he whispered, sliding down onto the floor next to her bed. 

“I’m sorry I walked out before,” she apologized, her eyes still not moving from the corner of her mattress. “I couldn’t take the judgmental and overly sympathetic stares from everyone…”

“It’s okay,” Sergio assured her, knowing that when she was hurting she often needed her space much like he did, but he hoped they could at least be there for each other right now. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking this game is bullshit,” Raquel laughed bitterly.

“Me too,” he joined in. “Complete bullshit. I think I’ve given people failing grades who are smarter than everyone who created this show.”

“I’m sure you have,” she smiled for the first time. “I think I’ve arrested some who could do a better job at matching people.”

Sergio laughed at this, thankful they were on the same page over how ridiculous the results were.

“I don’t care what the game says,” she finally revealed. “I didn’t start getting closer to you because I thought you were my perfect match. Honestly, I barely even thought about that. I just wanted to be with you.”

Sergio’s heart sped up over this. This was one of the first times she was really telling him how she felt, and he never realized how much he needed to hear her say it. To know that she was feeling exactly what he was. “Me too,” he confirmed. “I assumed we were a match because there’s no one else in this house who I think could be, but it wasn’t why I kissed you.”

“Good,” she smiled gratefully.

“What’s going on then?” Sergio finally asked, wondering why she looked so hurt earlier this evening.

“I’m scared…”

“Of what?”

“The truth is, I was relieved when we weren’t a match for a second…”

“What?”

“No no, not because I don’t want this,” she reassured him, “I was worried if we left, we wouldn’t win the game. A game I only joined for my mom. I can’t help but think that almost failed her tonight.”

“I thought about that too,” Sergio frowned, forgetting about that pang of guilt he felt before they got their results. “I hated that I could have been the reason we lost…”

“We,” she corrected. “I wanted that date. I won us the date and put us in a vulnerable position… and I don’t regret it. I loved every moment with you,” she smiled reassuringly.

“I did too…”

“But I’m here to win the money for my mom. And I lost sight of that.”

“Right…”

“But that doesn’t mean that I’m not completely heartbroken that you’re not my perfect match. Because I am.I really wanted that perfect match moment with you. I wanted that time with you out of this house. I was ready to say fuck this game and be with you...”

“Hey,” he whispered comfortingly while grabbing her hand. “I wanted all of that too..”

“But I don’t know what to do now,” she revealed, defeated by the result. “The way we win is to split up, but even the idea of doing that…”  she started but her voice broke. She couldn’t hold back how deeply it hurt her to say the words.

“Raquel…”

“You were right the first week. Playing this game with our hearts doesn’t work. We let ourselves get distracted from what’s important,” she said bitterly.

Sergio knew what she was getting at and where her conflict was coming from. Winning this game for her mom was the most important thing right now even if it meant that their hearts were about to break.

“And you deserve to win this for your law firm… to finally clear your dad’s name.” Raquel continued sadly.

“Of course, all of that is important… but you’re also important to me,” he countered what she’d been trying to imply. 

“I know,” she squeezed his hand. “You’re important to me too, and I don’t want to end this,” she said through tears, “But maybe Sofia is right. The others deserve the chance to get to know you without me getting in the way.”

Sergio got up and sat on her bed, urging her to make room next to her so he could lay next to her. “I promise you we’ll win this game,” Sergio finally said as he turned to face her. “And when that happens, you and I will be together.”

“We will,” she nodded while wrapping her arm around him to hug him closer. “And until then, we focus on winning this.”

“Yes.” he smiled. “But I can still kiss you, right?” he asked teasingly while leaving a soft kiss on her neck.

“That would be wrong,” she giggled playfully.

He captured her lips in his, kissing them softly before running his tongue between them. “But how can something so wrong feel this right?” he asked innocently before kissing her more passionately, his tongue rubbing over hers sensually to prove his point.

“You’re not making this fair,” she pouted. “We’re supposed to put aside our feelings for the game.”

“I know,” he agreed while pulling away, feigning sadness.

“Where are you going?” she whined.

“To bed,” he replied as if it was the most obvious thing, yet his tone was playful.

“Get back over here,” she pulled him partly on top of her.

“I thought you wanted to be good,” he teased.

“What’s one more night of being bad?” she asked, pulling his lips on hers once again relieved to be getting lost in the comfort of his kisses.

“Oh, for fucks sake you two,” Alicia rolled her eyes when she entered the room in her PJs ready for bed. “Get some self control.”

Raquel pushed Sergio to the side but kept her arm around him to ensure he didn’t leave her bed. “You’re going to bed early tonight. No boom boom room fun?”

“Didn’t feel like it,” Alicia shrugged while getting into her bed. “Although walking in on your nauseating bullshit makes me wish I did…”

“We were just agreeing to cool it down for a bit,” Raquel informed her friend with her arm still around Sergio.

She looked at them incredulously, “You’re not doing a very good job of that….”

“Starting tomorrow,” she added, while placing her head on Sergio’s chest with his one hand above his head under the pillow and the other around her waist, their usual sleeping position.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Alicia grumbled while turning away from the couple.

“I’m worried about her,” Raquel whispered to Sergio while she watched her friend hiding in the comfort of her bed. Deciding there wasn’t anything she could say to change how Alicia was feeling right now, she snuggled closer to Sergio while closing her eyes.

Sergio was also worried, but it wasn’t Alicia who he thought about as he felt anxiety rushing through his chest. He kissed the top of her head before adjusting his body slightly to avoid a sore back in the morning. How he wished there was a way he could erase tonight’s result. Even the thought of having to stay away from her while they were both living under the same roof seemed impossible. How a game could dictate how his heart felt was absurd. He resolved that no matter what anyone tried to say or do, he’d never let this woman think he didn’t care about her. He’d respect her need to focus on winning the game right now and give her space, but if the producers thought he’d even entertain the idea of building a connection with someone new, then they were idiots.

He smiled at her one last time when he felt her breathing relax, signifying that she was falling into a deep sleep. The steady rhythm of her breathing finally eased his nerves. Once he closed his eyes, his final thoughts were how lucky he was to have not only met this woman but that she felt as strongly for him as he did for her. And no game could take that away from them.

  
  


* * *

The next evening, the contestants walked on stage for their fifth match up ceremony. This was officially the halfway mark in this competition, putting the pressure on everyone to start taking this game seriously. No more making assumptions about matches based on only attraction or superficial feelings – or in the case of Sergio and Raquel, very real feelings that didn’t align with the game’s criteria. It was time to figure this out once and for all.

Sergio couldn’t help but feel nervous as he walked on stage. Having to face his brother’s reaction to falling for someone in this house who wasn’t his “match” left him feeling restless. Did Andres know? He knew that his brother wasn’t supposed to know the matches, but he had to wonder if he had more insider knowledge than he was letting on.

Raquel was also dreading this part in the game because, in her mind, she found her perfect match. The idea of sitting next to anyone but Sergio didn’t feel right. However, this was a puzzle to solve, and she was ready to put those feelings aside to do what was right: win this money for her mother. 

“Welcome to your fifth match up ceremony, everyone!” Andres greeted the group with a large grin. “We’re officially at the halfway point, so I hope you’ve been using the past week to make the right connections.”

Sergio rolled his eyes, hating the implication of “right connections.” If his brother thought he was going to make an effort with anyone new, he was a bigger idiot than he already was.

“This was a big week,” he continued once everyone was in place. “How’s everyone doing?”

His eyes went to Sergio who looked like he was ready to shoot him with daggers through his eyes, a look he knew all too well. Admittedly, he did feel guilty over what happened this week. He never expected his brother to fall for anyone in this game, and the last thing he wanted was to see him hurt the first time he opened his heart to someone. If only he’d have known before they started the game.

“It’s been an interesting week,” Monica smiled. “I think most of us are still confused over how Sergio and Raquel are not a match.”

Andres softened for a split second before returning to his host persona, “Sometimes we fall for the wrong people, but the good thing is that they know now so they can both keep looking for their perfect match.”

“If they actually break up,” Sofia rolled her eyes.

“We have,” Raquel confirmed. “We decided, for the game, to take a break and put our focus on finding our matches.”

“So why were you in bed together last night?” Sofia asked while crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. 

Andres couldn’t help but laugh at Sofia’s accusations. Was his brother really this hopeless over a woman? 

Raquel could feel all of the heat rushing to her face as her frustration for this woman grew with every interaction, “Look, what Sergio and I feel for each other is more than a game. We’ve decided to put that aside because we know it’s what we need to do to win, but we can’t turn off how we feel after one night.”

“Whatever,” Sofia rolled her eyes, causing Raquel to nearly lunge forward. She felt Agata’s hand on her arm to stop her.

“I’m going to slap her,” Raquel mouthed to Agata before taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

“As interesting as this is ladies,” Andres shook his head in amusement, “we do have to get the match up ceremony started. First, let’s all say hello to Angel and Mari Carmen, your only confirmed perfect match.”

Once everyone greeted them, Andres continued on. “Tonight, we’ll start with Monica.”

Everyone cheered as she walked to centre stage to stand in front of Andres. “Hello,” she smiled.

“Monica, you look a lot happier this week,” Andres observed. 

“I am,” she grinned. “Daniel and I got a chance to really talk on our date, and it’s been amazing getting to know him.”

“Fantastic,” Andres smiled. “And your match tonight?” he asked as a formality.

“Daniel,” she grinned when he jumped and hollered in reaction to her saying his name.

“Do you both think this is a perfect match?” Andres asked.

“100%,” Daniel grinned. “But I’m still not sure how I got so lucky with this one.”

As the rest of the contestants were either cooing or gagging in reaction to how sweet the couple was, the two locked in and took a seat.

“Sofia,” Andres called out, gesturing for the young woman to join him. “Who is your perfect match today?”

“Sergio,” she responded without hesitation.

Sergio nearly choked in shock at her selection. He thought she had hated him after their date. What was she doing?

Raquel looked like she was ready to murder the woman. No wonder she was antagonizing her earlier. She wanted Sergio. Good fucking luck, she thought smugly when Sergio turned around to look at her reassuringly before walking towards centre stage.

“Why is this a match?” Andres asked, understanding her earlier behaviour.

“We’re both ambitious and independent. I think we both need someone who won’t be clingy,” she commented, looking back at Raquel briefly. “I think it’s pretty clear why he and Raquel weren’t a match…”

“Did she just?” Raquel whispered to Agata, fuming over the audacity of this woman. She’d been so quiet for weeks. 

Andres had to hold in his own negative reaction to her implication. He knew Sergio better than anyone and knew his brother felt anything but smothered by Raquel. If anything, he was likely just as guilty of wanting to be in her presence constantly. “What about you, Sergio, could this be a match?”

_ I hope not,  _ he thought but couldn’t bring himself to be rude to the woman next to him. “I honestly don’t know anything anymore when it comes to the logic of this game,” he simply shrugged, feeling completely defeated.

Sofia looked back at Raquel smugly at his response, taking it to mean that he saw the potential too.

Raquel couldn’t hide how hurt she felt by his response. She knew he struggled with confrontation, but he was letting her words hang in the air as if there were truth to them. Clingy? She was actually calling her clingy?! Sofia was lucky Raquel wasn’t allowed to pack her gun.

Andres exhaled the breath he’d been holding in when the two locked in and then turned his attention to the next contestant. The producers were definitely getting the drama they were yearning for, but the fact that it was at the expense of his brother was tearing him up inside. “Agata.”

Agata grinned when everyone cheered while she walked towards Andres, “Hello,” she smiled.

“Agata, who is your match tonight?”

She looked at Alicia briefly who was continuing to avoid her gaze. “Andres, this week my match is Raquel.”

For the first time, Andres was truly shocked. He did not see that selection coming. What were these people doing? “Why is Raquel your match?”

“She and I get each other,” Agata smiled, “We’ve been through a lot together in this game, but she’s one of the few people I can really talk to. Plus, she’s HOT. Who wouldn’t want her?”

Raquel blushed, “You’re really sweet, Agata” while taking her friend’s hand.

“Barf,” came Alicia’s voice from behind. 

“Did you just say ‘barf’?” Silene laughed.

“What? You’d prefer I do it all over this stage.... Is anyone else getting sick listening to this? Clearly, Agata wants to make me jealous by choosing the person who’s been my match from day one.”

“That’s not it all,” Agata denied. “It’s a possibility that Raquel could be my match.”

“Sure,” Alicia rolled her eyes, “And I’m the queen of Spain just because I said it.”

“Ok ladies,” Andres mediated. “Agata and Raquel, please lock-in.”

After the disastrous first few match-ups, the rest of the pairings were able to lock-in without any protest (thank god, Andres thought), including: Anibal and Silene, Alicia and Suarez, Julia and Marseille, and Helsinki and Martin.

“Now that we’re all locked in,” Andres sighed, feeling exhausted by everything that just happened, “let’s see how many new matches you’ve gotten correct this week,” he announced while sharing the rules yet again: they were already starting with one perfect match (Angel and Mari Carmen), they would lose a quarter of the prize money if they didn’t get a new match, and that the beams would only indicate the number of perfect matches but not who they were.

With the lights down, the 16 contestants sat in silence in anticipation. After a few seconds, the first blue beam lit up, earning cheers from everyone. They still hadn’t lost any money.

“Let’s go!” Silene yelled. “More!”

A second beam lit up which had the house standing up, cheering. 

“One more!” Agata shouted.

However, the house lights came back up. Two new matches. Again. They were back to where they were two weeks ago and were already on week five. Shit.

“Ok, not great but better than last week,” Andres commented with a smidgen of hope. “Keep getting to know each other, talk to new people, and keep playing with your hearts. You still have a chance to turn this around.”

Everyone walked back into the kitchen, feeling somewhat defeated by the results again. They have not gotten past three correct matches in this game. What were they doing wrong?

Agata ran over to the sound system and put on “Mamacita” by Black Eyed Peas, Ozuna and J. Rey Soul. “No pouting tonight!” She announced while moving her hips to the beat. 

Raquel laughed when she bent over to wiggle her ass playfully when the beat dropped.

“Come on my perfect match,” Agata grinned while taking Raquel’s hands, her hips still swaying to the beat. Raquel laughed while beginning to match her move for move, relieved to dance off the earlier drama.

Silene couldn’t help but join her two friends and signaled for Anibal to dance with her. He was almost too eager which, for the first time, charmed the younger woman who was starting to let her walls down with him. Well, maybe she took one brick off the wall, but it was a start.

Martin grinned, unable to resist showing off his moves and joined the group. He quickly ran up to Raquel and twirled her around, causing the woman to laugh. Quickly, the rest of the group began to dance around the living room except for Sergio who stood by the counter. His eyes never left Raquel as she danced between Agata and now Mersaille who decided to use this opportunity to get closer to her. Sergio could feel himself getting the urge to walk over to her but was quickly stopped by Sofia.

“Dance with me,” she flirted. 

“I don’t dance,” he denied, moving his eyes back to Raquel who was pressed up against Agata.  _ No… _

“I saw you dancing with Raquel a few times. You definitely dance,” she pulled at the lapels of his suit jacket to bring him even closer to her. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she whispered seductively.

Sergio immediately pushed her hands off of him and pulled back, “What are you doing?” he asked nervously, not liking the way she was looking at him.

“I think that’s pretty obvious,” she shook her head, grinning over how he was playing hard to get.

“I thought you couldn’t stand me after our date,” he added, confused by her sudden change in behaviour.

“No,” she denied, “I wanted you, and I couldn’t stand that you wouldn’t get your mind off of Raquel. But now that’s not an issue,” she shrugged.

“Not an issue?” He asked, not following her logic.

“Aren’t you both broken up? She’s not your match, and I might be. I think it’s about time you start focusing on someone who is actually good for you,” she told him directly. She wasn’t going to play games, and she knew he didn’t play them either. This was why she knew he was her perfect match. She just needed to get him to see it too.

“I don’t think-” Sergio started but was interrupted by Raquel who walked past the two to grab a shot of tequila from the counter.

“Don’t mind me,” she grinned evilly at Sofia while downing her shot and putting a lime slice in her mouth. “What was that you were saying about actually being good for Sergio?”

“Raquel, what a surprise,” Sofia rolled her eyes. “Can’t you see that Sergio and I are talking?”

“So talk,” Raquel encouraged while taking a second shot off the counter. “I’m not stopping you.”

“You’re ridiculous. He isn’t your match,” Sofia pointed out angrily, “I think it’s only fair I get to know him better to see if he’s mine.”

“Again, I’m just standing here getting a drink,” Raquel said innocently, moving closer to Sergio’s side to grab a glass of sangria from the counter. As she moved closer, she let her hand graze across his stomach.

Sergio adjusted his glasses nervously, hating that he was stuck in the middle of the growing tension between the women. He also didn’t appreciate the way Sofia was trying to insult Raquel in order to get closer to him. She clearly didn’t know him if that was her strategy. All he wanted to do was tell her to go away, so he and Raquel could be together, but he knew that wasn’t the right option for the game. He needed to turn off his emotions in order to maintain some semblance of control while figuring out who his perfect match was as much as he wished it wasn’t Sofia.

Sofia rolled her eyes, “He’s not going to get to know me with you standing there touching him like you own him.”

Raquel took a sip of her drink, amused by how agitated Sofia was getting over her presence. “I’m still waiting for you to answer why I’m not good for Sergio. Please, enlighten me.” 

Sofia rolled her eyes, “You’re making him uncomfortable right now,” she gestured to how tense Sergio was. “He needs someone who isn’t going to act like they own him.”

Raquel’s eyes widened as she tried to hold back a laugh. “Is that it, Sergio? I’m making you uncomfortable?” She asked looking straight at him.

“No, of course not,” he quickly reassured her by putting his hand on her lower back.

“You know what I think, Sofia? I think you’ve had your eye on Sergio since day one, but he never gave you the time of day. And now, barely after 24 hours of us learning we’re not a match, you thought this was your chance. You wanted to make your move when he was at his most vulnerable in this game,” Raquel pointed out calmly. “I commend you. It’s smart really...if not a bit, what’s the word, insensitive?”

“He’s not saying no,” Sofia simply replied, not showing any weakness.

“No, I guess he’s not,” Raquel looked at Sergio sadly. When he continued to remain silent, she shrugged, annoyed over how Sergio’s inaction was giving Sofia the wrong idea. She knew his social limitations, but it would have been nice for him to show Sofia he was on her side. Fuck, this game sucked, she thought as she walked back towards Agata and Silene who were now dancing to “La Cama” by Ozuna. How was she supposed to survive the next five weeks of Sofia today and then whoever would be next coming after Sergio? She knew he was in high demand as an attractive, intelligent and successful man. She only hoped that the connection they shared was enough for him.

“Are you okay?” Agata asked when she noticed Raquel’s annoyed expression.

“Yep,” she smiled, allowing the alcohol to numb her emotions and the music to invade her mind. “Let’s dance,” she said as she moved seductively to the music, her eyes moving to Sergio who was looking straight at her.

“Do you want to go somewhere a little quieter to talk?” Sofia asked Sergio in an attempt to get his attention off of Raquel. She was so close to getting in between them, but now she needed Sergio to only be focused on her in order to drive a real wedge.

“No,” he shook his head in denial while grabbing a bottle of beer from the ice bucket behind him.

“No?” She asked, surprised by his quick denial.

“No,” he repeated confidently and walked away, leaving Sofia speechless. She looked as if she’d just been slapped across the face. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she initially thought.

He walked out of the house towards Martin and Helsinki who were sitting back, enjoying a couple of cigars.

“Hey Sergio,” Helsinki smiled while pushing a chair out to invite him to join them.

Sergio smiled at Helsinki gratefully and took a seat, “How’s your night going?”

“Great,” Helsinki smiled. “Martin was telling stories from his recent trip to Argentina.”

“Was he?” Sergio smiled, wondering if there was something to this connection.

“What else is there to do to pass the time in here?” Martin shrugged it off, and Sergio noticed a flicker of pain in the larger man’s eyes.

“Right…” Sergio nodded, taking a sip of his beer when there was an awkward silence among the three men.

“How have you been holding up with the no match?” Helsinki asked.

“It’s been fine,” Sergio lied. Truthfully, he was frustrated with the way people had been acting due to the Truth Booth result and thinking they had the authority to control him and Raquel.

“Sofia seems really interested,” Helsinki gestured to the house with his head to show the younger woman staring at him.

Sergio’s shoulders slumped over the realization. She really didn’t quit, did she? “A little too interested.”

“She’s been waiting for the right moment to get with you,” Helsinki revealed. “She’s been talking about it for weeks.”

“I had no idea,” Sergio sighed. “She was really mad after our date, and we haven’t spoken since. I don’t understand where this is coming from.”

“She’s jealous of Raquel,” Martin offered. “She’s hated her since day one because of all the attention she was getting from everyone.”

“And she wants you,” Helsinki added.

“Oh yes,” Martin laughed. “Who would have thought you’d be such a Casanova in this game?”

“How do I get her to stop without being a jackass?” Sergio asked, frustrated by her behaviour.

“You didn’t have a problem before. How did you do it with Agata?” Helsinki frowned, remembering how heartbroken his friend was the night of the retreat.

“I got very drunk,” Sergio replied guiltily, hating how he’d handled that whole situation. 

“I can get the tequila shots,” Martin laughed.

“No, I’d prefer not to make an ass out of myself again,” Sergio glared at his friend.

“You have to be honest,” Helsinki advised. “Don’t lead her on like you did with Agata.”

“She knows Raquel and I are…” Sergio contemplated the label for a second… “together, kind of.”

“With the no match verdict, you’re both seen as fair game in the house whether you like it or not,” Martin informed him. 

“This is my worst nightmare,” Sergio frowned, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes in frustration. 

“Not to make your night worse, but it looks like Suarez is trying to dance with Raquel,” Helsinki pointed in the house.

Sergio could feel his fists clenching when he saw the man inching closer to Raquel from behind. Did no one care that they’d been together for the past two weeks? Was Martin right that people were going to treat this result like they were both single? He sat frozen in place until he noticed that Raquel was quite drunk and didn’t seem to notice his hand making its way around her waist.

“No,” he declared as he stood up, quickly rushing into the house to stop this before Raquel noticed what was happening. 

“Sergio…” Sofia tried to get his attention when he walked past her but he only had one thing on his mind: getting Suarez’s hands off of his woman. 

When he got closer to Raquel, he noticed her eyes light up at his presence and couldn’t help but return her smile. He passed by her, however, and stood in front of Suarez, staring at his hand on Raquel’s waist.

“Uh oh,” Alicia laughed from the couch. “Looks like the nerd is angry.” Julia, who was sitting next to her, joined in.

“Too bad we don’t have any popcorn,” she commented while watching the scene unfold in front of them.

“What’s going on?” Raquel asked dumbly until she noticed Suarez behind her. When did he get there, she wondered drunkenly. She moved his hand off of her quickly and pushed him away. “What the fuck, Suarez?”

“You looked lonely dancing without a partner,” he shrugged. “Seems your man was too busy with another woman.”

“That’s not an invitation to dance with me!” Raquel screeched while leaning drunkenly on Sergio for support. 

“I’m here now, so leave,” Sergio commanded. When he saw the man smirk, he added. “Now.”

“Oh, what are you going to do? Make me?” He asked while holding back a laugh. This was the second time this nerd was ready to fight him, and he was living for it. He loved aggravating him. It was the only thing that kept him amused during this annoying game.

“No, but I will,” Raquel walked closer to him as if she was ready to punch him across that smug face.

Suarez began to laugh at the couple looking at him with such disdain. He put his hands up in surrender when he noticed the rest of the house beginning to stand around the three of them. “I was just trying to have a bit of fun. I thought Raquel was now single…”

“She’s not,” Sergio corrected sternly.

“And if I was, you’re the  _ last  _ person I would want close to me,” she added angrily.

“Next time, try not to look so sexy dancing without your partner,” he shrugged innocently while looking her up and down.

Agata ran over to Raquel to hold her back as she tried to lunge forward, but Sergio had already punched the man across the face in response to his lewd comment and look.

“What the fuck?!” Suarez yelled while grabbing his nose in pain.

“Never talk to her that way again or approach her without her consent.” Sergio warned as a production assistant held him back. 

Another PA instructed Suarez to go into the backyard to cool off after the scene he just made.

“But he was the one who punched me!” He complained while he was escorted to an empty table in the backyard with a few PAs.

“Is your hand okay?” Raquel asked Sergio who was flicking his wrists in an attempt to ease the pain he felt growing in his knuckles.

“It’s fine,” he smiled softly while she brought his hand to her lips and kissed his reddening knuckles. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned for how she was feeling at the moment.

“I’m okay. I just feel like an idiot for not realizing he was all over me,” she admitted as she felt herself sobering up. “Thank you for sticking up for me,” she smiled gratefully.

“Always,” he responded honestly, the implication of his words making her breathless with affection for him. She never expected him to stand up for her in the way he just did, and even though she didn’t need it or seek it out, she couldn’t help but appreciate how deeply he cared for her. She’d also never hesitate to do the same for him if the roles were reversed, showing her yet again that this game had no idea what compatibility was.

She grabbed the back of his head with both hands and brought his lips to hers to kiss him fiercely. Given her state of inebriation, she didn’t have much self control, opening her mouth wide to deepen the kiss. 

Sergio broke away embarrassed by the fact they were being watched, “Everyone is watching,” he laughed nervously.

“Who cares,” she responded, kissing him again and this time, he didn’t hold back, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her even closer to him as the two lost themselves in the feeling of each other’s kisses.

“I thought they broke up,” Julia laughed.

“They did,” Sofia rolled her eyes, sitting next to her and Alicia on the couch.

“Aw, you’re sad he’s not paying attention to you?” Alicia asked patronizingly, growing more and more annoyed with the way this woman was talking about her friend. 

“We’re going to lose this game if they don’t stop acting like this,” Sofia responded, ignoring Alicia’s insults.

“Well, you do have a point there,” Alicia nodded in agreement while looking at the couple in disgust who were still kissing in the middle of the living room like a couple of horny teenagers. 

Raquel pulled away first, smiling up at Sergio adoringly. “I should be mad at this game for fucking us over, but I’m just so happy it brought me you,” she confessed drunkenly, and Sergio smiled knowing she was being more open after all the tequila she consumed tonight. But he'd still take it. He loved when she verbalized her feelings for him.

“Me too,” he grinned, hugging her closer to him. This felt right, and he wasn’t about to let anyone or this game tear her away from him. 

Agata walked over to the sound system and changed the song to “Let’s have a Kiki” by the Scissor Sisters. “Let’s get this party started again!”

The group who had been standing around watching the drama unfold in front of them – Monica, Daniel, Silene, Anibal, Martin and Helsinki – turned away from the couple and began to dance to the song as if nothing had just happened. 

“Love this song!” Silene grinned as she began to pull out her best vogue poses. “Come on Alicia, stop sulking and dance!” She encouraged the redhead who’d been spending the last week avoiding everyone. When she joined in, Agata tensed for a moment until the older woman grabbed her hand, urging her to stay and continue dancing. This was the first contact between the two of them in a week and Agata was relieved. It was a start.

“Look at that,” Raquel grinned, turning her gaze to Alicia and Agata.

“What?” Sergio asked, completely missing the small moment as he only had eyes for the woman in front of him.

“Alicia and Agata are almost dancing together,” she pointed, happy to see the ice around Alicia’s heart beginning to thaw. She could tell she was having an internal battle with her feelings but anytime Raquel had tried to talk to her over the past week, she changed the subject. This was promising, she thought while putting her head on Sergio’s shoulder as they two swayed together.

“What does ‘let’s have a kiki' mean?” Sergio asked while listening to the lyrics of this odd song people seemed to love.

Raquel laughed at his lack of knowledge about pop culture, “It means ‘let’s have a party’” she informed him while running her hands up his back, relieved to have him back in her arms.

“Odd name for it,” he scrunched his face while attempting to understand its etymology. The English language was strange, he concluded.

“You’re so cute,” she laughed into his chest as her desire for him grew the more he tried to understand the word. “Want to have our own kiki?” She whispered in his ear seductively.

“How would that work?” He wondered, completely missing her innuendo.

Raquel shook her head, completely charmed by his confusion. “It means, do you want to go to the boom boom room with me and have a party for two in bed.”

“Oh!” He nearly choked, looking at the small woman in his arms with desire. Effortlessly, he lifted her off the floor and encouraged her to wrap her legs around his waist as he walked them out of the room quickly.

“Are they for real?” Sofia complained to Julia and Marseille who had recently joined the two women on the couch.

“We need to have a house meeting first thing tomorrow morning,” Marseille commented while watching the two laughing together as Sergio walked up the stairs carrying her in his arms.

* * *

The next morning, Sergio and Raquel walked down the stairs smiling. After everything that happened yesterday, they chose to lock the boom boom room door and spend the night together without seeing the judgement from their fellow contestants. Both were having a hard time feeling guilty for it even though they’d both agreed to put the game first. After everything that happened after the match up ceremony, they weren’t about to let the pressure from others destroy the relationship they’d been building together for the past couple of weeks. Besides, what was one more night together?

As they walked into the kitchen holding hands, they saw the whole house sitting and standing around the table and counter staring at all of them with solemn expressions.

“What’s going on?” Raquel asked, dropping Sergio’s hand in concern. “Did something happen?”

“Take a seat, Raquel and Sergio,” Mersaille instructed.

“Why? You are all scaring me,” Raquel asked while she and Sergio sat in the two chairs that were positioned for the two of them.

“Raquel hon, you know I adore you, but this is an intervention,” Alicia told her.

“A what?” Sergio asked, completely lost over what the point of this was.

“Sorry, I grabbed the short end of the straw,” Silene apologized while showing them the short straw. “The house met this morning and in order to win this game, we all agreed that you both need to stay away from each other.”

“Do we get a say in this?” Raquel demanded, angry that people were making decisions about her relationship behind her back. People who she called friends. 

“No, you two have been together the past two nights,” Alicia interrupted. “And I’m not one to judge a good few nights in the boom boom room with a no match, but neither of you are even trying to play this game.”

“But-”

“No,” Alicia stopped her. “This will only get harder the longer you both put this off.”

“You have to break up,” Helsinki concluded sadly.

_**[cheesy voiceover]** SO. MUCH. DRAMA. How dare the house stage an intervention? Will Raquel and Sergio listen? Will Sofia get who she wants? Will Marseille ever show interest in anyone? Can Suarez disappear already?_


	12. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU ALL for your continued support of this fic. I love reading all of your comments, tweets and reactions. They really mean the world to me. 
> 
> I really cannot believe how far this story has come and I have all of you to thank for inspiring me to want to be more creative and have fun with the characters. Never thought I'd be writing a 100k+ crack fic, but here we are lmao.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

“You have to break up,” Helsinki concluded sadly.

Before responding, Raquel observed the 12 others in the room noting the array of expressions from guilt to sadness and even a bit of glee from a few. She wasn’t surprised that there were a few who wanted her and Sergio to crumble whether it was for their own gain or simply watching drama unfold to cure their boredom. It pained her that she’d fallen into the trap of trusting some of these people and had even given a few the label of friend when everyone could easily be incentivized to throw a “friend” under the bus when their portion of the prize money was in jeopardy.

“Excuse me?” Raquel demanded, the feeling of betrayal evident in her tone. Monica, at least, appeared to disagree with what was happening as she glared at the rest of the group in anger. Her usual smile and kind demeanor had been replaced with tension and frustration. Raquel was relieved to know she still had one friend at least.

“I think you heard us loud and clear,” Sofia snarked back.

“Well, I definitely hear  _ you _ ,” Raquel rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what the younger woman’s motivation was for all of this. “What makes any of you think Sergio and I are any of your business?” She addressed the group, not allowing Sofia to respond to her retort.

“This game makes it our business,” Silene responded, her annoyance over their reluctance to separate growing the more Raquel questioned this. “You know I adore you both, but this is a game about finding perfect matches. Both of you have a perfect match in here that you know isn’t each other. How is it fair to those people if you stay together?”

“Did you ever think this isn’t all a game to some of us?” Raquel responded, hurt by the younger woman’s words. 

“No one is saying your feelings aren’t real,” Alicia patronized in frustration over Raquel being difficult. “But this is a game first. You know that.”

“Exactly, it’s a game. And Sergio and I can still play that game while we’re committed to each other,” Raquel countered again, growing more and more annoyed by Sergio’s silence. She looked over at her “partner” in this who was looking down at the floor deep in thought.

“Not this game,” Agata replied sadly. “None of us wants to do this because we know how much you both care for each other, but it’s best for the game if you separate. Whether you like it or not, we all have to follow the rules of the game in order to win this.”

“And it’s only been two weeks? It shouldn’t be that hard,” Sofia said flippantly while crossing her arms around her chest.

“They’re right,” Sergio finally spoke, his voice soft but assertive.

“What?” Raquel quickly looked at him in shock.

“We talked about this, Raquel,” he grew bolder with his tone. “Winning this game is the most important thing for all of us right now. We haven’t gotten more than three matches in six weeks. The odds are not on our side and the more we try to pretend like we can balance our feelings with what’s needed to win this game, the more we’re holding ourselves back. It’s time to start playing this game differently.”

“Wow,” Raquel took a deep breath. “I thought we agreed that what we had was more important than any game, but I guess I was wrong,” she nodded sadly, taking in his words.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I wish there was another way…”

“Don’t,” she stopped him by putting her hand up. “I don’t need to be placated right now.”

The rest of the group watched the two of them, feeling their heartbreak unfolding before their eyes. Many felt an overwhelming sense of guilt as they realized their own fears had been manipulated to push for this. They were watching a car wreck of their own doing yet were too paralyzed to stop it.

“It’s only a few more weeks,” Sergio tried again but knew anything he said now would only upset her more.

Raquel took a deep breath, choosing not to give into the conflict that the house and producers were hoping for. “You’re right,” she shrugged solemnly. “Winning this game is the most important thing. And if you think I’m a distraction, then we don’t have much of a choice, do we?” 

“Raquel…” Sergio tried to deny.

“It’s okay,” she gave him a strained smile. “It’s only been a couple of weeks.” When Sergio looked away from her and remained silent, she turned to the rest of the group who were still watching their interaction in silence. “Are you all happy now?”

“No…” Agata spoke first. “But…”

“No buts,” Raquel stopped her. “You have all gotten what you wanted, so is this intervention done?”

“I guess so,” Silene responded softly, hating everything that had just happened. They all put their own needs first and had overlooked the impact it would have. It was clear from Sergio and Raquel’s body language that there were genuine feelings between the two, signified by how deflated and defeated both appeared. Shoulders hunched, no eye contact and fidgeting hands to be exact.

“Great,” Raquel nodded sadly. “Wonderful meeting.” She commented, her tone laced with sarcasm, as she got up from her seat and left the room.

Agata looked at Sergio who was still frozen in his seat. “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” he nodded. “This is a game, so that’s how we’ll start playing it,” he replied without emotion in his voice before standing up and walking in the opposite direction of Raquel.

“We suck,” Silene frowned once Sergio was out of the room.

Martin simply shrugged, “It had to be done.”

“Not like that,” Monica shook her head in anger. “I can’t believe you could all be so selfish. None of you care about the game. Some of you are hoping to fuck one of them, and it’s disgusting,” she yelled in frustration and stormed out of the room.

“I’ll go check on her-” Daniel ran after, thankful for a reason to leave the tense situation they were left in.

The rest of the group decided this was the moment to separate, not wanting to discuss what had just happened as it filled many with mixed emotions. Some were happy that the game was back on track, others were happy to get their chance with Sergio and Raquel, and the rest felt guilt for breaking the hearts of two people they knew had developed genuine feelings for each other.

* * *

Raquel sat on a lounge chair by the pool, refusing to let her thoughts focus on the betrayal of the house. Instead, she refocused her mind on her last day with Paula and her mom before she left for the show. They went to El Retiro Park for the day, spending time walking around the rose garden, renting a rowboat to explore the park’s large pond and then enjoying a picnic on the grass. Paula had met a couple of new friends and played a game of football with them while she and her mom watched happily. It had been the perfect day. She thought back to the way Paula gushed over enjoying a family day and asked for more once she was done with summer camp. 

Their relationship had been strained since her divorce with Alberto as the young girl didn’t understand why her “perfect” family was split apart, but this day and their phone calls that followed had been so positive. It felt like there was a shift and Paula was adjusting to her new reality. They were rebuilding. Raquel was suddenly hit with how much she missed her little girl’s smile and her mom’s stories (even when it had been the third time hearing it). As she felt the warm breeze all over her body, she thought back to her final conversation with her mom before leaving to film this game.

_ "So what’s the game again?” Marivi asked while taking a sip of her morning coffee. Raquel had been running around all morning, packing, grabbing her toiletries and making sure her mom had what she needed to live on her own for the next two months. _

_ "It’s like a dating game. There are sixteen of us living together and we have to figure out who our perfect match is,” Raquel laughed over how ridiculous it sounded to say out loud. “But if we all get the matches right, we each win 70,000 € and we can afford the clinical trial in America…” _

_ “No, stop,” Marivi waved her hand. “You will not be winning that money for me.” _

_ “Mama, we talked about this,” Raquel sighed, hating that she kept running into this same brick wall. This trial could give her a few more good years. It could delay the destruction this horrible disease would bring to her cognitive abilities. Why didn’t she want to fight for more time with her family? _

_ “No, you talked about this,” she denied. “I don’t want you spending all that money on something that may not even work… Paula-” _

_ “I have money saved for Paula’s education,” she interrupted, knowing what she was going to say as this was the tenth time they were having this same conversation. “This is for you. This is our hope. Please take these couple of months to consider it. I don’t know what I’d do without-” _

_ “Oh honey,” Marivi walked over to her daughter and pulled her into a hug when Raquel started to tear up, understanding that this was Raquel’s way of trying to have some control over something none of them could stop. “If you win that money, I will consider it,” she promised while stroking her daughter’s hair comfortingly. _

_ “Thank you,” Raquel smiled, tears of relief filling her eyes. She resolved that she’d do everything in her power to win for their future. For, at the very least, a few more years with her mother. Just the thought of losing her left her completely shattered.  _

_ “So, this perfect match...” her mom teased while pulling out of the hug to lighten up the mood. “Does this mean you’ll finally start dating again, mija?” _

_ “Mama, it’s a game. Of course not. None of it is real.” Raquel denied while grabbing her mug from the counter and taking a sip. _

_ “Doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun,” Marivi smirked, wiggling her eyebrows to make her point even more obvious. _

_ “Stop,” Raquel laughed to hide her discomfort over what her mother was implying. “There will be cameras everywhere. Not the most romantic setting for having fun.” She denied again while grabbing a newspaper and sitting at their kitchen table. _

_ “Can you make me a promise?” her mother asked seriously while taking her seat across from Raquel. “If you do meet someone, don’t ignore your heart. Be happy, mija. You deserve to see the world in colour again…” _

_ “This isn’t reall-” _

_ “Promise me,” she repeated sternly. _

_ Raquel, sensing this was her way to making a pact between then two, softened. “Ok, I promise if I meet someone, I’ll try to keep my heart open if you promise to be open to the clinical trial.” _

_ “Deal,” she smiled in return.  _

Raquel frowned while staring at the pool, thinking back to their deal. She had done what her mom asked, she opened her heart in a way she didn’t expect to. She let herself be swept away by the feelings of happiness she felt in Sergio’s presence. It felt so out of character to have fallen so easily for someone, but he was different. Their connection was unique. And she could, at the very least, tell her mother that she kept up her end of the deal. And now, she’d fight with everything she had left to ensure he mother kept up with hers.

“Raquel,” she heard a voice greet her from behind, interrupting her thoughts. 

“Alicia,” Raquel greeted bitterly while watching the woman take a seat on the lounge chair next to hers. This was the part about living in a house filled with people that she hated – rarely getting to enjoy moments of solitude and reflection.

“I thought I would ask if you’re finally ready to give in and go to the boom boom room with me,” she smirked.

Raquel laughed over how ridiculous she was, “You waited exactly 17 minutes.”

“Yes, and it was excruciating,” she groaned loudly to further emphasize how difficult it had been on her.

“I’m sure,” Raquel shook her head while laughing, seeing right through her theatrics. “Why are you actually here?”

Alicia grew more serious for a moment, “I’m sorry about what happened in there…”

“No, you’re not.”

“Okay, not really. But I’m sorry it hurt you?” she tried again.

“You’re ridiculous,” Raquel let out another small laugh but then chose to voice her frustration, “It really sucks that the whole house turned against us like that.”

“It’s not personal…” Alicia began to defend but then softened when she saw Raquel glaring at her, “Okay, it was a little personal. There are people who want a chance with you and Sergio who used everyone’s fears to their advantage…”

“Were you part of that?”

“No! Never!” Alicia gasped, over exaggerating her response. “Maybe a little,” she admitted and shrugged. “You could still be my match.”

“What about Agata?” Raquel decided to flip the table, not wanting to focus on her and Sergio at the moment. 

“What about her?” Alicia scrunched her face in confusion.

“Alicia… you haven’t even kissed anyone in here since you two slept together.”

“You don’t know that-”

Raquel tilted her head at the woman in disbelief, not letting her get out of this easily.

“Fine, but that has nothing to do with  _ her,”  _ she caved. “The people in here are boring.”

“I also saw you both last night…”

“I highly doubt that while you and Sergio were making out like a couple of horny teenagers…”

“I still have eyes,” Raquel laughed. 

“Is he that boring that you had to get off looking at me? I don’t blame you really. I would too,” she joked, deflecting yet again from talking about Agata.

Raquel shook her head and turned towards the pool again. This woman was a fortress. Even more than she was which was saying a lot.

After a few minutes of silence, Alicia finally spoke, “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“What?” 

“With Agata,” she admitted while keeping her eyes on the pool.

The fortress was opening its door, Raquel realized. She turned her body towards Alicia who she could see was struggling to find the right words to express herself. “What changed?”

“If you tell her what I’m about to tell you, I’ll cut off your tongue and sell it to Suarez.”

Raquel couldn’t hold back a laugh over how absurd her threat was, “You can trust me,” she reassured her friend.

“I like her,” she whispered inaudibly.

“What? I didn’t catch that,” Raquel smiled, knowing full well what her friend said.

“I don’t know how or why it happened. I still think she’s an annoying twit, but for some reason I don’t completely hate her... Happy now?”

“Are you?” Raquel countered.

“A little,” Alicia admitted honestly. “I thought you and Sergio were idiots for falling for each other during this game, but it has a way of getting to you when you see the same people every day. And the more I learn about her, the more I realize she’s … pretty amazing,” she confessed, her tone filled with fake disgust while saying amazing.

“She is,” Raquel agreed. “And it’s okay to feel this way about someone again…”

“But now I have German waiting for me…” she protested.

“You have to follow your heart,” Raquel replied, “I know it’s an annoying cliché but it’s true. You can’t let your past stop you from moving forward if that’s what you want.”

“This house really messes with your head,” Alicia groaned while pulling her knees to her chest as a method of self protection from her own feelings.

“Tell me about it,” Raquel moaned in agreement. 

“So, you and Sergio? Are you going to be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Raquel sighed sadly. “Right now, we have to do what’s best for the game. And if that means we can’t be together, then I have to accept that.”

“And then after that?”

“Who knows,” Raquel replied bitterly. “You know how quickly things change in this house.”

“For what it’s worth, I really thought he was your perfect match,” Alicia admitted. “After me, of course,” she joked.

“Of course,” Raquel shook her head smiling. “Thanks for coming out here.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” she asked hopefully.

“It is,” Raquel confirmed, relieved to have had this discussion with Alicia. It lightened some of the tension she’d just felt over the ridiculous intervention.

* * *

Sergio sat on his bed unable to get what had just happened out of his mind. His frustration over how a group of people could have the audacity to intervene over something so personal was yet another reason he hated this game. It inspired a level of toxicity in the guise of good television that could be damaging. Before he could dwell on how he was feeling over Raquel’s reaction, Sofia walked into the room.

Of course, she was here already, Sergio thought bitterly.

When Sofia saw Sergio on his bed deep in thought, she decided she would take a new approach with him. Clearly, coming on too strong while he still had feelings for Raquel wasn’t going to work for her. So, for now, she would approach him like a friend. An ally of his while the rest of the house appeared to be on Raquel’s side. And with time, she was confident he wouldn’t be able to resist her. It was the perfect plan.

“I’m sorry it had to happen like that,” Sofia attempted to say in her most genuine voice. “But you did the right thing for the game.”

Sergio only nodded, not yet ready to talk about what had just happened in the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” she asked in an attempt to get him talking.

“I’m fine,” he gave her a small smile and then looked back down at the floor.

“You know what I miss?” She took a new approach. “Going to work. I know it sounds crazy, but I miss feeling like I have purpose. What do you miss?”

_ Raquel,  _ his mind answered automatically, but he decided not to be rude. “Reading.”

“Me too,” she nodded in agreement. “I just reread 1984.”

“That’s a great book,” Sergio couldn’t help but respond when hearing the title of one of his favourite English fictional stories.

“Very sad though,” she admits, “I usually like a happy ending.”

“That’s not always possible,” Sergio commented bitterly. “Especially when the system is rigged against your personal happiness.”

“Sounds a lot like this game,” she admitted, hoping that playing to his intellectual side would help her.

“In a way, but hopefully with less torture,” he considered. “And we don’t need Room 101 in here. The interview room is torture enough.”

Sofia laughed at this. “No, I suppose the worst of it here is talking to the cameras and having to go on dates with people you may not like.”

“Right,” Sergio nods.

“But maybe,” she began to suggest. “If people opened their hearts and minds to others, it wouldn’t feel like torture.”

Sergio suddenly knew where she was going with this and how she was trying to appeal to him. With Raquel, their discussions had felt genuine and devoid of ulterior motives. This woman was anything but subtle with her intentions if he, of all people, was able to pick up on it.

“I suppose,” Sergio humoured her for a moment, “but I think if Winston and Julia had the agency to choose differently, they would have.”

Sofia didn’t miss his point, hating that this was going to be even harder than she anticipated, but luckily, in a game like this, she had the luxury of time.

“Maybe,” she considered, “Or he would have been settling for what was easy,” she shrugged while leaving the room to allow him to ponder her own meaning. She would eventually break through his wall and show him that he was settling with Raquel. She knew she was the better option for him.

As Sofia walked down the stairs towards the main living room, she was met with Agata who was eating a piece of licorice. 

“I know what you’re doing,” Agata said while taking another bite of her candy.

“And what am I doing?” Sofia rolled her eyes over the attitude she heard in Agata’s voice.

“You want Sergio,” she said simply. 

“Your point?”

“I get it,” Agata smiled, “He’s a wonderful guy.”

“He is…”

“But you’re not going to get in between him and Raquel,” She stated matter-of-factly. “Trust me, I know…”

“There is nothing to get between. They aren’t together anymore…”

“They also weren’t together when I spent three weeks convinced he was my perfect match. He only has eyes for her,” she informed her, attempting to give this girl the reality check she needed.

“Or maybe he just wasn’t into you?” Sofia offered  _ innocently _ .

“Oh, you want to go there…”

“What’s going on?” Alicia asked, walking into the living room after her conversation with Raquel only to see Agata ready to fight Sofia. She had to admit that it was kind of sexy - not that she’d ever tell her that.

“Sofia seems to think Sergio is going to fall madly in love with her,” Agata laughed, the sarcasm in her tone couldn’t be missed.

“Here we go again,” Alicia rolled her eyes, thinking back to the first few weeks of Agata lusting over him. “What is it about that nerd that turns you all into pathetic leeches?”

“He’s-” Agata started.

“Save it. I don’t want to hear about how he’s got a good heart and dick. Gross,” Alicia shuddered. 

“Your way with words,” Agata laughed, happy to be having banter with Alicia again. She had to admit she missed these moments with her.

“Listen Sofia,” Alicia looked straight at her with her usual intimidating stare. “She spent weeks trying to get into Sergio’s pants and I spent weeks trying to get into Raquel’s. And do you know what happened?”

Sofia frowned over the way she knew she was being mocked by the redhead.

“They got into each other’s pants. Many times,” she concluded. “If  _ we  _ don’t have a chance, two of the hottest women in here, what do you think your chance is?”

“Do you really think that?” Agata asked, not missing that Alicia referred to her as one of the hottest women in the house.

Alicia, hating herself for her slip up, didn’t know how to get out of it, so she did the first thing she could think of, “Look over there!” she pointed to an obscure spot in the opposite direction. When the two women looked away, she ran out of the room.

“For fucks sake,” Agata laughed. Alicia was something else. She, however, chose to shake it off and turned back to the woman next to her, “I’m saying this as a friend, Sofia. Those two are in love with each other. Save yourself the pain and start looking elsewhere,” she offered kindly while putting the remaining piece of licorice in her mouth and walking to the pool area, leaving Sofia on her own to think about her words.

* * *

Over the next few days, Sergio did his best to keep to himself as the house grew more and more divided over his separation from Raquel. A couple of the girls would glare at him, which included a few snarls from Alicia, for hurting her so publicly every time they saw him. He could handle their anger, but  without Raquel by his side, time slowed in the house and it became excruciating to do nothing from morning to night. 

He tried to do everything to get her off his mind - working out, walks on the beach, swimming - but the harder he tried to stop thinking about her, the more he longed for her. It also didn’t help that they were living together in the same house. He could always feel her presence when she was nearby. It tugged at his heart to see her in the same room but not be able to walk up and talk to her. He also grew more and more frustrated by her “bodyguards” Alicia, Agata or Silene who made it a point to be by her side at all times, making it nearly impossible for him to try and steal a short moment with her just to say hello or ask her about her day. He at least had Martin to keep him company, but there was always a moment where he’d allow the more offensive part of his personality to reveal itself, and he’d walk away from him in anger. Yesterday, it was about how women only had sex to procreate. He loved the man, but he was a fucking tool.

He was thankful that Sofia appeared to be backing down the past couple of days. She only greeted him a few times, but she wasn’t pushing to have a conversation or trying to flirt with him. He wondered what changed, but he didn’t want to jinx it by asking her. He’d take it as a sign that she got the hint he gave her during their short discussion about 1984.

With the way time was moving, he was - for the very first time - thankful it was a getaway challenge day as it meant that he’d have something new to focus on. He sighed with relief when the house had been asked to gather in the living room for today’s challenge. 

He was currently seated on the arm of the couch doing his best to keep his gaze off of Raquel who was wearing a white sundress with an intricately embroidered red flower pattern. She looked beautiful (as usual) with her hair straightened and minimal make-up. He couldn't help but think that just a week ago, he would have been by her side with his arm around her while she leaned into him. He thought about the softness of her skin when he stroked her arm and how her eyes lit up when she looked up at him. For someone who once enjoyed his solitude, he suddenly couldn’t stand the loneliness he felt without her. How was it possible in a few short weeks, he’d become a man who needed someone in his life? His greatest strength had always been compartmentalizing all of his emotions to focus on the task at hand, but somehow Raquel was in every compartment. He couldn’t shut her away. And what surprised him even more was that he didn’t want to.

“Hello everyone!” Andres greeted as he walked into the living room with a few camera operators surrounding him. He stopped in front of the TV while everyone greeted him in return. “This week, we’re going to do things a bit differently. We’re not convinced you’re all doing the best job choosing your dates, so we’re going to leave it up to fate today.”

Andres smiled when everyone looked at each other in confusion. “Next to me is a button and all of your photos are scrolling on the screen. When you all tell me to stop, I’ll hit the button to select our first duo to go on the date. No connections, no bias, no competition. Today, we leave it up to chance.”

“And one more thing,” Andres continued. “You can vote in any combination from the two dates to increase your chances of getting a match, giving you many possibilities to vote in. How does that sound?”

As the group cheered, Sergio had to fight rolling his eyes wondering just how “random” these dates were going to be knowing how the producers liked to create chaos on the show.

“Tell me when to stop,” Andres demanded when all of the photos moved on the screen. When the group gave him his cue, he hit the red button, stopping on a photo of Silene which was quickly followed by Anibal. The house cheered in response as they knew these two were a potential match and could tell them a lot about the first week’s pairings.. 

Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad method of choosing dates after all, Sergio mused. But his smile quickly disappeared when his photo appeared on the screen next to Marseille. No, no, no….

“And Sergio and Marseille,” Andres nearly laughed as he said it. “The four of you will be going on a romantic date that starts with snorkeling in El Arenal followed by a picnic on the beach. Please get ready now because your bus leaves in thirty minutes.”

He was going to kill him. Strangle him so hard he wouldn’t be able to breath. Sergio knew his brother was behind this selection to torture him. Why couldn’t he let him have a peaceful week? And how was he about to go on his third date during this ridiculous game? The only silver lining was that he would have a couple of hours to distract himself from missing Raquel. 

“The rest of you have the important job of voting any combination of these four into the truth booth. And I beg you all, please don’t fuck this up,” he pleaded before leaving the room.

* * *

Sergio had to admit that he had fun snorkeling with Silene, Anibal, and Marseille. It was the perfect day with the sun shining over the clear waters. The soft breeze that saved them from the rising humidity in the afternoon. Seeing the aquatic life up close was an unforgettable experience – witnessing a whole other world underwater filled with colour and diversity of species. He only wished that Raquel was with him to share such a magical moment.

He was also thankful that during their bus ride, Silene promised to be kind to him as it was punishment enough to be on a date with the “mute” as she rudely described Marseille. That was, however, a small win for him as he had been growing more and more frustrated by all of the glares he’d received from the women during the past week. He was happy they wanted to protect Raquel, but they had to know he was the last person she needed protection from. Even if this game was driving them both to do things they didn’t want to do, he never wanted to hurt her. He wished they could understand that.

Unfortunately for Sergio, the group portion of the date was over and they were sitting on opposite sides of the beach in pairs in front of a “romantic” picnic for two. Sergio looked over to the other side of the beach to see Anibal and Silene laughing together. He was envious that they were both with the person they wanted to be with while he and Marsaille had been sitting in an awkward silence for the past ten minutes.

“Do you spit or swallow?” Marseille asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence between them.

“Excuse me?!” Sergio asked, shocked and utterly mortified.

“Watermelon seeds,” he clarified while holding up the large piece of watermelon he’d been eating. After a moment, he spit the seeds out of his mouth into a cup.

Sergio felt his breath return and began to laugh while shaking his head in denial. He was not walking into the trap of answering that question.

“Are you sad, Sergio?” Mersaille asked after a few more minutes of silence as he watched the man staring longingly into the ocean.

“No,” Sergio responded hastily.

“You can talk to me,” the man offered, “about your feelings.”

“I’m okay,” Sergio attempted to smile and turned his head towards the ocean ahead of him, focusing on the consistency of the waves.

“Pamuk.”

“What?”

“That’s the name of my dog.”

“It’s a nice name?”

“I almost didn’t get to be with her…” he attempted to clarify.

Sergio caught on to what the man was trying to imply with his dog, “Are you comparing your dog to Raquel?”

Sergio stared at the man disbelievingly when he nodded in response. “So, you wanted to be together but some ridiculous rules told you that you couldn't?” he demanded in an attempt to shut him up.

“Yes.”

When Sergio noticed the pain flicker in his eyes, his tone changed. “What happened with Pamuk?” he conceded, encouraging Marseille to share his story.

“I was volunteering at a rescue, and the moment I saw her, I knew she was special,” he began. “And the more I stopped by, the more we bonded. We’d play games and go on long walks. Every time I went to the rescue, she would light up when she saw me with her tail wagging. She’d been abused by her previous owners and was used for dog fighting, so this had been the first time she’d shown signs of happiness while living at the rescue for almost a year. And it was the first time I felt a real connection, you know?”

“That’s terrible. What she had gone through, I mean,” Sergio attempted to offer understanding but didn’t fully comprehend the bond people had with pets.

“It was,” Marseille agreed. “And I wanted nothing more than to take her home with me and give her the life that she deserved, but…” he looked down at the sand and took a breath before continuing, “There were others who had already filled out the application to adopt her. I was too late.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sergio comforted while watching the man getting emotional over the memory.

“But she wanted me,” he said passionately and then a hint of a smile appeared on his face, “And when the others came to meet her, she didn’t bond with them at all. For one couple, she peed on the man’s leg when he was standing next to her,” he laughed at the memory, proud of his Pamuk for showing the rescue what she wanted. 

Sergio laughed at the visual, “She sounds like an amazing dog. Does that mean they didn’t want to adopt her?”

“Exactly,” Marseille grinned at the memory. “They immediately stopped the process, and I adopted her. Best day of my life.”

“I’m glad it all worked out.”

“It could for you too,” Marseille offered kindly. “I thought maybe Raquel was my Pamuk in here, but she doesn’t want to bond with me,” he admitted nonchalantly.

Sergio had to hold back rolling his eyes over the comparison he was making between Raquel and his dog, “Where is Pamuk now?”

“She’s with the rescue while I’m here,” he replied. “I miss her.”

“I know that feeling,” Sergio nodded looking away from the man who appeared to be tearing up over his dog and thinking about how he and Raquel haven’t said a word to each other in a week. It was slowly killing him inside.

After a few minutes of silence, Marseille turned to Sergio, “Is this the part where we kiss?”

“No.”

“Okay then,” he nodded. “Nice talk.”

“It was,” Sergio agreed and the two men stared at the ocean until the production crew yelled cut.

* * *

“Hola chica,” Agata greeted while walking up to Raquel who was about to cast her vote for the truth booth. “Who are you voting for?”

“Anibal and Silene,” she admitted.

“Me too,” the younger woman sighed. “Do you think they are a match?”

“I do,” Raquel nodded.

“It’s going to suck without her in here if they are,” Agata frowned while selecting their photo.

“It will, but I think having time alone with Anibal will be good for her. She’s really changed this past week and wants to put in the effort with him.”

“I know,” Agata smiled over a discussion she and Silene recently had about her feelings for the boy. She wasn’t ready for a lifelong commitment, but she was at least willing to try to get closer to him. 

“It’s crazy to think we’ve only got four weeks left in here. It feels like we’ve been here for years,” Raquel laughed as the two women took a seat on the couch while waiting for the truth booth ceremony to start.

“I don’t know… it feels like yesterday, I was coming in here claiming Sergio was my match,” Agata laughed. 

“Looks like he’s neither of our matches if Silene and Anibal were the perfect match from week 1.”

“Shit, there goes my plan to win him back, “ Agata frowned.

“What?!” Raquel glared at her.

Agata quickly broke into a loud laugh. “You’re too easy.”

“I’m sorry,” Raquel laughed with her. “I’ve got enough competition with Sofia right now…” she joked.

“I don’t understand why you haven’t slapped that bitch yet,” Agata rolled her eyes.

“She’s not a real threat,” Raquel shook her head. “Besides, Sergio’s free to get to know whoever he wants to…”

“We both know you’re the only person he has his eye on in here…”

“I know,” Raquel blushed slightly. “But he still has to play the game.”

“How have you been doing?” Agata asked, knowing that she and Sergio hadn’t talked all week. She had observed fleeting moments where Raquel’s mask came off and she could see her yearning for Sergio, but every time she tried to talk to her about it, Raquel would change the subject.

“I’m okay,” she attempted to smile. “We’re doing what’s best for the game,” she said in an almost robotic tone as it had been her canned answer to the question all week.

“Are you sure?” Agata asked, skeptical that Raquel was being truthful about her feelings.

“We’re adults,” Raquel shrugged. “We can wait a few more weeks.”

“You amaze me,” Agata looked at her friend in disbelief over how mature she was being. If it had been her, she’d be raising hell in this house until she got what she wanted. Deciding not to dwell on the topic she knew made her friend uncomfortable, she changed the subject. “So, any idea who your match is?”

“Not a clue,” Raquel laughed. “How about you?”

Agata looked towards the pool where Alicia was sitting with Martin, Helsinki and Suarez. 

Raquel, following her eyes, knew exactly who she was thinking about. “How’s that been going?”

“She admitted I was hot and then ran out of the room a few days ago…We haven’t talked since,” Agata shook her head in frustration.

“Sounds like progress,” Raquel laughed.

“I’m not a patient woman,” Agata confessed. “I’m not sure how much longer I can wait for her to stop acting like we’re in middle school.”

“Maybe she’s worth being patient for,” Raquel offered.

“I guess you’d know,” Agata smiled, referring to her waiting to be with Sergio.

“Yeah...It sucks,” Raquel reconsidered her point.

“You got that right,” she groaned and the two continued to make small talk about the game, their fellow contestants and some of their theories on different match scenarios.

* * *

“Welcome to your sixth truth booth ceremony,” Andres greeted once everyone was in position with Sergio, Marseille, Anibal and Silene on the stools behind the couch. “How was your date, Silene?”

“It was really great,” the younger woman smiled. “Snorkeling is something everyone has to do in their life at least once,” she gushed.

“And what about Anibal?” Andres asked, amused over where she was directing her excitement.

“He was okay,” she teased.

“Hey!” the younger man interjected.

“He was great too. We’ve been really getting to know each other for the past week, and I’m really happy.” 

“That’s amazing,” Andres smiled while watching the rest of the house looking at the younger woman proudly.

“I know, look at me! Growing!” She declared triumphantly.

“And how about you, Marseille?” Andres asked, directing the conversation to the other couple

“It was great,” he smiled. “We had a deep talk about feelings....”

“Don’t tell me I have to add Marseille to the list of Sergio’s suitors,” Raquel whispered to Agata who laughed.

“Any sparks?” Andres asked while doing his best to hold in a laugh over how annoyed Sergio looked.

“No,” Marseille frowned, “I asked for a kiss, but he said no,” he shrugged.

Raquel had to put her face into Agata’s shoulder to hold back laughter over how ridiculous their date sounded. Andres, noticing her reaction, turned his attention to the couch, “And Raquel, how have you and Sergio been doing since last week?”

Raquel looked at Sergio briefly who was staring at her with a mixture of admiration and apprehension. “We’ve been okay. We’ve decided to use the rest of this time to find our matches.”

“So, you’re okay with him being on the date today?” He probed, causing Sergio to roll his eyes at his brother’s poor attempt at trying to create drama for the cameras.

“Of course,” Raquel replied easily. “That’s what we’re here for.”

“And Sergio,” Andres directed his attention back at his brother, suspicious over how good they were both taking this given how heartbroken they looked last week. “Would you agree with that?”

“Of course, we’re here to play this game,” he echoed Raquel’s words woodenly. 

“Okay then,” Andres frowned for a moment, annoyed he wasn’t able to get the reaction he wanted out of the two of them. “Let’s see who you all voted into the truth booth,” he announced while staring at the screen. Unsurprisingly, Silene and Anibal’s photos appeared a few seconds later.

“Anibal and Silene, please go to the truth booth,” Andres instructed. “Good luck, everyone,” he said before leaving the group on their own to react to the results.

While the young couple were nervously standing hand-in-hand in the booth awaiting their fate, the rest of the house watched the TV screen with anticipation. 

“Please be a match,” Daniel whispered while hunched forward on the couch with his eyes on the screen.

After what felt like an hour of torture, the words PERFECT MATCH appeared across the TV screen.

Quickly, everyone erupted into cheers over getting their second confirmed match. Many were jumping up and down in excitement. Raquel had automatically jumped into Helsinki’s arms in happiness when he appeared behind her. Sergio, who had tried to get closer to her, looked disappointed when he didn’t get there fast enough.

“YESS!!” Sofia screamed, grabbing Sergio into a tight hug. “I hope we’re next,” she whispered in his ear. So, she wasn’t done pursuing him after all, Sergio groaned internally. He simply gave her a tense smile and walked over to Martin who was laughing over the whole exchange.

“She’s really not getting the hint, is she?” he laughed.

“I thought she and I talked about it days ago,” Sergio admitted, confused by her actions after their brief discussion about 1984.

“She’s like that game of whac-a-mole,” Martin laughed.

“Wack a what?”

“You know, that arcade game where you smack a mole with a plastic hammer and another keeps appearing,” he shook his head over Sergio’s lack of knowledge over anything fun.

“WE’RE A PERFECT MATCH BITCHES!!!!” Silene yelled as the young couple entered the house.

Everyone screamed in joy over the result. Many ran to hug the two of them while Helsinki and Mersaille opened a couple of bottles of champagne, spraying it over the group in celebration.

Agata turned “Can’t Stop this Feeling” by Justin Timberlake on to get the house dancing in celebration of this much needed win in this game. 

Raquel stood back and leaned on the kitchen counter, feeling a small pang of sadness in her chest over the celebration. She watched the rest of the house dancing and laughing together. Even Sergio was being encouraged to break out his best moves by Martin, and it filled her heart with both joy and yearning to see him so free during this moment. However, she couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous over how many couples would have this moment that was denied to her and Sergio.

“Hey girl,” Monica greeted while standing next to her friend. She had noticed Raquel off to the side looking at the group wistfully. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m wonderful,” Raquel attempted to smile while looking at Silene and Anibal who were kissing in the middle of the dance floor, losing themselves in the euphoria of the moment.

“Raquel…” Monica grabbed her hand. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m happy for them,” she brushed off her friend’s concern.

“You wished you had this moment with Sergio,” Monica summarized after a few minutes based on how hard she was trying to hide how much this was hurting her.

Raquel sighed, “That’s really selfish, isn’t it?”

“Not at all,” Monica reassured her friend. “Tell me, how are you really doing? No more of that fake ‘I’m fine’ bullshit.”

Raquel looked at her friend with a sad smile, “I miss him which sounds ridiculous because he’s right there. But I’m okay, I promise.”

“Even with Sofia trying to rub herself on him?” Monica asked, pointing to Sofia who was currently dancing behind Sergio and inching closer and closer to him.

Raquel’s hands formed into fists as her whole body tensed over the display. “Umm, yeah, that’s fine,” she shrugged.

“You’re not going to go over there and push her off?” Monica demanded in anger, pointing to Sofia and Sergio when she wrapped her arms around his waist. He appeared to be letting it happen, but he was more stiff than a marble statue at her actions. Raquel could tell he wasn’t enjoying himself at all.

“No,” Raquel denied while letting out an awkward laugh.

“Can I?!”

Raquel grabbed her friend’s hand to stop her, “It’s okay.”

“No, she’s rubbing herself on him!!”

“She’s trying to…” Raquel shrugged.

“Why aren’t you mad?” Monica asked, worried over her friend’s lack of emotion over such a disgusting and disrespectful display.

“Because this is what he and I agreed to,” Raquel half smiled while turning away from the couple to avoid growing more tense over watching the two together. “She could be his match.”

“She is NOT his match,” Monica shook her head passionately. “Can you please go over there and slap her?”

“Monica!” Raquel laughed over how her sweet friend was encouraging violence. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“If you say fine one more time, I’ll go over there and slap her for you.”

Raquel hugged her friend in response, “I’m so lucky to have you,” she smiled and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to go congratulate Silene and Anibal and then head to bed. Enjoy the night,” she encouraged while walking towards the younger couple. As she walked through the living room, her eye caught Sergio’s who looked at her apologetically. She simply gave him a reassuring smile as he stood frozen between Helsinki, Martin and Sofia.

She quickly put her arm around Silene’s waist to get her attention. When the younger girl turned towards her to see who was touching her, her face lit up with a smile. “Raquel,” she grinned while positioning herself to pull her friend into a tight embrace. 

“Congratulations,” Raquel whispered into her ear.

“You know, this could be our final chance to run off to the boom boom room together before I leave,” Silene smirked playfully.

“Stop,” Raquel laughed wondering what it was about someone in a perfect match couple trying to have sex with her. She was 2/2 now. “Enjoy your night with your  _ perfect match.” _

“Fine,” she groaned in fake annoyance and then focused her attention on something behind Raquel. “Sergio’s watching us. Do you want to make out a little to piss him off?”

Raquel turned her head back in Sergio’s direction. His eyes were glued to her with an intensity she rarely saw from him. Deciding not to mull over it for too long, she turned back to Silene with a wicked smile and left a big kiss on her cheek, “How’s that?”

“Next time, you can move it to the right 3 inches and slip in some tongue, but it’ll do,” she teased.

“You’re the worst,” Raquel laughed.

“And you love me for it,” Silene grinned, knowing she had a soft spot in Raquel’s heart. 

“I do,” Raquel smiled, “I’m glad we became friends in here, and I’m really going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too,” Silene admitted honestly. “Now, get out of here before you make me cry on  _ my  _ night and not even in the good kind of crying,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

Raquel laughed while giving her friend one last hug before walking out of the living room. As she made her way to the hallway, she ran into Suarez. Of course he was there waiting for her. Why couldn’t they find his match to get him the fuck out of this house?

“Hey Raquel,” Suarez smirked. “We’re one step closer to being a perfect match.”

“Shut up,” Raquel snarled at him.

“Looks like your ‘boyfriend’ is really enjoying himself tonight. Maybe you should do the same,” he winked.

“Get out of my way,” she pushed passed him in disgust, deciding not to even humour his proposal and head straight to bed.

“Your loss!” he yelled while she walked up the stairs wishing she didn’t hear him.

* * *

Raquel’s eyes opene d to complete darkness. She heard the sounds from her fellow contestants who were all sound asleep around her and was suddenly annoyed to be awake. How was she supposed to fall back to sleep during this full orchestra of snoring, heavy breathing and what sounded like Martin mumbling the word balls repeatedly.

Groaning slightly, she sat up and attempted to wipe the sleep from her eyes for a moment before walking out of the room towards the main washroom. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, and she used this rare moment of solitude to think about the game. She now knew that Sergio, Alicia, Silene, Anibal, Angel and Mari Carmen weren’t her matches. But who was? Could Suarez be right? She nearly vomited over the thought. She’d sue the show for emotional damages if that was the case.

Once finished, she turned off the bathroom light and walked back towards the bedroom. When she passed the walk-in closet, a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her into the large room. 

“You scared the shit out of me,” Raquel gasped while attempting to catch her breath. When she felt how tenderly the hand was holding her arm, she immediately knew who it was.

_ Sergio.  _

“Sorry,” he whispered while pulling her close to him. His back leaning against the wall.

She let her eyes readjust to the darkness to see the silhouette of his face staring down at her. She could tell that he was smiling. “It looks like they’ve all bought it,” she grinned.

“We’re in the clear. Finally,” Sergio whispered, finding her lips in the darkness and kissing them softly. How had he survived a week without the feel of her lips on his, the euphoria of her tongue sliding over his and the way she tasted of mango and honey? “I missed you this week.”

“Me too,” she breathed into his mouth between kisses, thankful to be tasting his usual mixture of fresh mint with a hint of something salty. It was intoxicating.

“I think it’s time for phase two,” he said while reluctantly breaking away from her.

“Is it now?” She asked playfully. “Weren’t you telling me you were a pillar of self control?”

“That was before I spent a week without you,” he whispered while moving down to leave a trail of wet kisses starting at her jaw and then moving his lips down her neck.

“And here I thought the professor didn’t need anyone,” she teased while enjoying the feel of his lips on her.

“He was wrong,” he whispered while kissing his way back up to her lips. “He was just waiting for you to come along.”

She felt all of the endorphins rush through her stomach at his words and immediately grabbed his face to kiss him fiercely in an attempt to say everything she couldn’t with words. After a few minutes of the two kissing each other deeply, Raquel broke away and looked up at him with a devious smile.

“You have convinced me,” she grinned, “Phase two ‘our little secret’ from Plan Fuck Them All starts now.”

In the darkness, Sergio kissed her again, thankful that she’d agreed to move forward with their plan faster than they had initially agreed upon. Now, the question hanging over the two of them while their mouths were fused together was how were they going to keep this a secret in a house filled with people and cameras?

_**[cheesy voiceover]** Wait. A. Damn. Minute. They faked the break-up!? What's Plan Fuck Them all?! And will Sofia ever get the hint? Will Alicia ever stop running from her feelings? Find out in the next installment!_


	13. Strategy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All! Thank you SOO SOO much to everyone who took the time to read, comment, and give this story kudos on the last chapter. All of your support is so appreciated and inspires me to push myself to be more creative and make the experience of reading it even more fun.
> 
> After this, there are only four chapters left to this story. Wow, I can't believe we're nearing the end! Thank you to everyone who is still along for the ride and enjoying this crazy world. I don't know why this chapter is so long, but maybe it was my way of making up for it taking me two weeks to update.
> 
> I'll try my best to do weekly updates, but I'm starting a new job next week, so I'll have to see how much time that takes up. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The next morning, Agata was lounging on the couch, enjoying a rare moment of silence while the rest of the house was either sleeping or getting ready for the day. Usually, she was one of the last to wake up but the increasing anxiety over her confusing feelings for Alicia was inhibiting her ability to sleep longer than five hours. After what happened with Sergio, she promised herself that she was done chasing after people only to look like a complete fool. She appreciated how kind he was but it didn’t stop her from needing a week to get over the humiliation of assuming her feelings were reciprocated when he had, in his own way, tried to tell her they weren’t many times. Even thinking about it brought a light brush to her cheeks.

Alicia, however, wouldn’t be as kind as Sergio and would have no issue with humiliating her if her feelings were not returned. She’d even go as far to remind her of her unrequited love daily; therefore, her only option was to listen to her own advice at the beginning of the game – she would let Alicia chase her if that’s what she wanted. Now, all she could do was pray for patience while Alicia kept hiding from her every time they were in the same room.

The sound of a coffee grinder in the kitchen interrupted her thoughts. She looked towards the kitchen to see Raquel preparing coffee and a quick breakfast for herself. She observed the hint of a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared when Sergio entered the room.

Her heart broke for those two. All they wanted was to be together, and this game was taking that away from them. She continued to observe the two standing in silence: Sergio putting bread in the toaster while Raquel continued making a pot of coffee. 

Not a word or look was exchanged between the two. No pleading stares. No frowns or smiles. It was completely blank. 

“What do you think?” A voice startled her.

“Alicia, fuck,” Agata groaned while attempting to catch her breath. She’d been so focused on what was happening in the kitchen that she didn’t hear her approach.

“Oops,” she shrugged, amused by Agata's reaction. “Those two. What do you think?” She asked again while gesturing to Raquel and Sergio who were still standing side by side pretending as if the other didn’t exist.

“Think about what? The fact we broke them up?” Agata sighed sadly.

“Do you think they actually broke up?” She tried again as they watched Raquel pour herself a cup of coffee while Sergio buttered his toast.

“I think so,” Agata shrugged. “They won’t even look at each other, and they don’t know I’m here. Why would they act so cold?”

“Good point,” Alicia shrugged. “It’s weird they haven’t been around each other at all in a week. I thought they’d still be friends or something…”

“Sergio really hurt Raquel,” Agata frowned as she watched her friend grab her coffee and bowl of yogurt and walk outside of the house without even a glance at Sergio. “She can’t even look at him…”

“How he could have Raquel and throw it away like a moron, I’ll never understand,” Alicia rolled her eyes as she watched Sergio take a seat at the kitchen table alone. He appeared to be sulking to himself over the lack of any interaction between the two. “Pathetic,” she commented.

“Do you regret the intervention?” Agata asked while feeling sadness for how lost Sergio looked while taking a bite of his toast. She followed his eye to Raquel who was seated in a lounge chair by the pool. _He was longing for her._

“No, it had to be done. And the fact they threw away whatever they were feeling so quickly shows why it wasn’t meant to be,” Alicia frowned slightly as she said it. She hated seeing her friend revert back to protecting herself. She missed the moments where she saw Raquel relaxing and enjoying herself. And as loathsome as it was to admit, she knew a big reason for that was Sergio. What had they all done?

“I guess,” Agata replied, unsure of whether she believed they did the right thing. “I hope that if I met someone in this game worth fighting for, they wouldn’t give up on me so easily…”

Alicia, not missing her double meaning, suddenly grew uncomfortable. “Oh, look at the time… I have an appointment…”

“An appointment?” Agata asked skeptically.

“Look over there!” Alicia pointed and Agata followed her eye only to realize that she’d run off again.

“Not again,” Agata shook her head in amusement. Not letting herself dwell on Alicia’s fears, she turned her attention back to Sergio who was putting his dishes in the dishwasher before walking in the opposite direction of Raquel. She supposed it could be worse, she thought while observing how defeated her two friends looked.

* * *

**ONE WEEK EARLIER: MORNING OF INTERVENTION**

Raquel’s eyes opened slowly from a sleep deeper than a supermassive black hole. The shock of the light slowly hitting her eyes made her groan as she’d just awoken from a sleep where her own existence was forgotten. It took a few minutes for her mind to adjust to its setting, remembering that she was, in fact, alive. Her name was Raquel. And she was in a bedroom.

_Tequila._

Her mind quickly flashed to the multiple shots she’d taken as an attempt to erase the pain she’d been feeling over her “no match” result with Sergio. Keeping her head on the pillow, afraid of even the slightest movement, she turned her body to see Sergio sitting up next to her seemingly lost in thought. 

“Sergio?” Raquel questioned as she was confused over the presence of another human as she was coming back into her own existence.

“Good morning,” his features softened when he saw how lost she looked. “How are you feeling?”

“Trying to remember what being alive means,” she chuckled to herself. “Why are we in the boom boom room?”

“You don’t remember?”

“My brain is still slowly turning on,” she grimaced while putting pressure on her head with her hand as a way to combat her growing headache.

Sergio simply laughed over how adorably hungover she was. “You fell asleep.”

“Oh, good. I guess I was tired.”

Sergio looked down for a moment unable to meet her eye.

“Wait, what happened? Why are you looking away like that?”

“Nothing,” Sergio smiled reassuringly. 

“Suarez,” she whispered as memories from the previous night began to slowly flash in her mind. “You punched him.”

Sergio looked away sheepishly, regretting how he’d let his emotion invade his common sense in that moment. 

“Thank you,” she smiled in awe of the man next to her. He rarely allowed his emotions to show, so the fact he did that for her proved just how deeply he cared for her. 

Sergio smiled back and then looked back down at his hands embarrassed by his actions. Other than a few moments when he’d been tempted to push Andres down a hill, he’d never felt such a strong desire for violence before, especially as a way of “protecting” someone else. Was Martin right? Was he in love? Was this how it felt? This overwhelming need to protect someone?

“And then you carried me up here,” Raquel continued to list the series of events as they came back to her while Sergio was having a complete mental crisis in silence. “And we had sex…”

When she saw Sergio’s face wince slightly at the word sex, she made a startling realization. “And I feel asleep…”

“Yes…” he breathed out, nodding to himself.

“During…” she groaned, utterly embarrassed. They’d been together only two weeks and she already fell asleep during… _Raquel, you idiot, this is why you stay away from tequila._

When he nodded again, she began to laugh. “Oh Sergio, I’m so sorry.”

As she laughed, Sergio couldn’t help but smile, relieved that she was taking this so lightly.

“Did you at least get to finish?” she asked tentatively.

He looked at her in horror, “Of course not! I’d never-”

Raquel looked at him sympathetically. She got him excited just to give him a night of blue balls. No wonder he was so tense this morning. “You’re so sweet,” she smiled gratefully, “Let me make it up to you,” she said as she began to sit up. Unfortunately, it felt as if an anvil was hitting her head repeatedly, causing her to quickly fall back on her pillow. “Or not…” she moaned in pain.

“Be careful,” he moved his hand to her cheek and stroked gently while she grimaced in pain.

“I’m so sorry, Sergio,” she apologized again. “You were amazing last night and I repay you by falling asleep while we…”

“It’s okay,” he interrupted softly. 

“I promise I’ll make this up to you when I can function again,” she closed her eyes while he continued to stroke her cheek tenderly, thankful for the comfort of his touch.

“I’ll go get you some water and painkillers,” he offered while getting out of bed.

“Thank you,” she mumbled while snuggling into her pillow, her body feeling like a heaping pile of trash.

As Sergio walked down the stairs, he was, at first, shocked by how quiet it was. There were no camera operators waiting for him to leave the bedroom. There were no voices in the bedroom, no sounds of people getting ready or early morning chatter. Was it possible everyone was still sleeping?

That thought was quickly erased when he overheard voices right outside the house. It looked as if everyone was all together with camera operators surrounding them. What was going on and why weren’t he and Raquel told about this?

He bypassed the kitchen and hid behind one of the large window curtains, getting close enough to hear what was being said.

“So, we all agree then?” Sofia asked.

“Fine, but you know they won’t take this well…” Agata shook her head, annoyed that they were going behind her friends’ backs like this.

_Who would take what well? Sergio wondered while he leaned in a bit closer._

“They’re both adults. It’ll be fine,” Marseille rolled his eyes over how dramatic the group was being.

“You really think Sergio and Raquel are just going to say okay when we tell them they have to break up?” Julia asked skeptically.

“Sergio’s a rational guy,” Martin spoke up. “He knows what it will take to win the game.”

“Exactly,” Sofia agreed. “We need to appeal to his rational side.”

_Sergio frowned while listening to the group talk about him and Raquel so carelessly. Did they really think they had the power to tear him away from Raquel?_

“Let’s draw straws to see who has to tell them. Shortest straw has to be the one to tell them they have to break up for the game,” Sofia commanded while taking a small pile of straws from the table.

Sergio, deciding he’d heard enough, quickly grabbed the painkillers and water to run back upstairs completely undetected. With every step, he could feel the anger within him brewing over how a group of people felt they had the power to decide how he and Raquel dealt with this “no match” verdict. Yet, in the pit of his stomach, he knew they were right. They wouldn’t win this game if they spent all of their time locked in the boom boom room – as tempting as that sounded right now.

When he opened the door, he saw Raquel sitting on the bed wrapped in a towel and freshly showered.

“What took you so long?” She asked while walking towards him to take the water and painkillers from him, whispering thank you.

“Uhh…” Sergio stuttered while she popped the pills into her mouth and took a large drink of water. “How are you feeling? I figured you’d still be sleeping.”

“I started to feel sick,” she frowned. “What’s going on?” She asked again when she noticed how nervous he looked. 

“You may want to sit down for this,” Sergio led her to the bed.

“You’re scaring me…”

“Everyone is currently downstairs surrounded by cameras… planning an intervention.”

“What kind of intervention?” Raquel asked while holding her head, hoping the painkillers would help her soon.

“Our breakup,” he revealed softly. He watched an array of emotions spread on her face starting with disbelief, confusion, anger and finally, laughter.

“Just when you thought this show couldn’t get any worse,” she laughed while holding her head. “Fuck, it hurts to laugh.”

Sergio simply looked at her in disbelief. “You’re not mad?”

“Oh, I’m pissed,” she continued to laugh. “But it’s so ridiculous…”

Sergio continued to sit in silence while she found humour in what was happening, wishing he could feel the same, but even the thought of people conspiring against them made him feel sick.

“So, they’re all waiting for us to go downstairs so they can stage some crazy breakup intervention for the cameras?” Raquel shook her head in disbelief.

“Yes,” Sergio nodded, still completely serious. Her reaction worried him. Was she not feeling what he was? Did she really not care about what was happening?

“I’m sorry, Sergio,” she apologized when she saw how uncomfortable he was, “It’s so dumb,” she continued to laugh while laying back on the bed in pain. Why couldn’t they have chosen a morning where she wasn’t completely hungover for this?

“What do we do?” he asked, scared of her answer.

“What do you want to do?” She countered while pressing her hands on her forehead.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “We both agreed to step back…”

“And look where that got us,” she grinned, gesturing to the two of them in bed with one hand.

“True,” he finally let out a half smile. 

After a few minutes of silence, Raquel sat up, “We could… give them what they want?

“What?” Sergio looked startled by her suggestion.

Raquel moved closer to where he was sitting, thankful to finally feel the pressure on her forehead beginning to decrease. “We break up, meet new people and figure out our matches…” she continued, her tone light in an attempt to signify she was joking, but Sergio missed the subtlety of her humour.

“That’s an option,” he frowned, his heart shattering over how cavalier she was over what was happening.

“Or we can make them _think_ they’re getting what they want,” she suggested more seriously.

He perked up at this. “You mean…”

“Staging a break-up.”

“And what would that entail?” He asked, looking at her with a sliver of hope in his eyes.

“I don’t know… one of us pretends to agree with whatever bullshit they’re about to tell us and the other pretends to be hurt by it.”

Sergio nodded at this, “But they won’t believe us if we’re still spending time together…”

Raquel frowned at this, “We’ll have to make it feel real. We could agree not to talk until at least one of us figures out our perfect match?”

“That could take a while…”

“But it's good motivation to get our heads in the game. No sex until we figure out one of our perfect matches.”

“That… um… is definitely...an option,” Sergio struggled to reply, hating the idea of not being able to touch her for weeks.

Raquel smirked, moving off to the bed to stand in front of him. “What? You can’t resist all of this?” she teased while dropping the towel to the floor.

“I’m a pillar of strength,” he attempted to say, but his eyes betrayed him by travelling down her glorious naked body and back up to her teasing eyes. 

_God, he loved her._

Oh no, the voice in his head began to panic. Why was this the moment he had to make that realization? Terrible timing, Sergio.

“Good,” she grinned while moving past him to lay back on the bed completely naked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Sergio turned his body to lay on the bed next to her, still in his boxers and t-shirt. He could feel himself begin to harden the more he looked at her, but he tried to do his best to block out his growing arousal by focusing on the tomfoolery currently happening downstairs.

When Raquel’s eyes opened, she was amused over the way he was staring at her. “Like what you see?”

Sergio grinned over how playful she was, loving this side of her. “I like everything I see,” he confessed.

“We have an audience waiting for us,” she frowned. “I guess we should get up…”

“Or...we could make them wait a little longer,” Sergio moved closer to her, taking her hand in his and threading their fingers.

“It’s our intervention, we can be late if we want to,” Raquel sang to the tune of _It’s My Party_ by Leslie Gore while moving closer to him to capture his lips in hers for a sweet kiss. 

“Exactly,” he grinned, kissing her softly and running his tongue along the slit of her mouth to show her just how much he desired her.

When she felt his tongue on her lips, she immediately opened her mouth to meet his tongue with her own, getting lost in the familiar feeling of their kisses. She moaned into his mouth when she felt his hands move onto her breasts and lightly rub her nipples with his thumbs. In response, her hands moved down to the hem of his shirt, urging him to move back while she took it off of him. 

“For the record,” Raquel began while lifting his shirt over his head, “I hate this.”

Sergio, immediately knowing that she meant their upcoming staged breakup, nodded in agreement, “Me too.”

Her hands pushed him on his back so she could crawl on top of his body. Immediately, he could feel the heat of her core on his stomach. “What will you miss the most?” she asked teasingly, grinding herself into him lightly while letting her hands explore his chest.

His hands immediately moved up to her breasts, caressing her nipples again with his fingers. “I’ll definitely miss these…”

Raquel rolled her eyes playfully, “And here I was thinking you were going to say my brilliant mind…”

Sergio paused for a moment, “Of course, I will miss your…” he stuttered.

Raquel laughed, placing her hands over his on her breasts and pushing them down her body slowly until they were on her thighs. 

“You’re evil,” he laughed when he saw that she was teasing him yet again. Slowly, he moved his hands to her ass to pull her closer to his face. “Other than your brilliant mind,” he mocked her earlier words, “I’ll definitely miss this the most,” he whispered, bringing her closer to his mouth and kissing her inner thigh.

Raquel closed her eyes when she felt his lips leaving light kisses surrounding the area where she wanted him the most. She moved her body closer to his mouth, hoping he’d get the hint to hurry up.

“Always so impatient,” he laughed, his warm breath causing her to moan lightly while she balanced herself on her knees over his head. His tongue slowly explored along her slit, going in deeper and getting lost in her folds every time she pushed herself into him. As the feelings of pleasure began to shoot up her body, she grabbed a first of his hair in her hand to maintain control over the pace. His tongue was now moving in patterns which were driving her crazy – circular, straight line, an “s” before finally sucking on her clit. As the pleasure from his mouth became nearly unbearable, her other hand helped steady her on the bed’s headboard as she fucked his face.

Knowing the whole house was downstairs, she let herself moan every time she felt his tongue on her clit. “Yessssss, Sergio, right there,” she moaned when he sucked on her clit, refusing to let go of it.

When she could feel the familiar pre-orgasm tingles building, she moved off of him to turn her body around to face his very hard cock that was creating a large tent in his shorts. Refusing to stop, Sergio moved his hands to her leg, urging her to squat over his face once again. 

Not having to be asked twice, Raquel repositioned herself over him and moaned loudly when his tongue returned to the spot that had just been driving her crazy seconds ago. Bending her body over his chest, she moved her hands to the top of his shorts, pushing them down to free his very hard cock that was already oozing with pre-cum. She loved how turned on he got by just eating her out. It showed her just how much her pleasure meant to him.

While his mouth continued to lick up and down her folds, he slowed his pace when he felt her hand delicately rubbing the top of his cock, spreading the pre-cum around it. When he increased the pressure again with his tongue on her, he felt her lick his tip in response. He nearly exploded on the spot, the feeling of her mouth on him while his tongue was lost in her was overwhelming. This position was new for him, but he was loving every second of it. 

Her mouth opened to take him deeper, suctioning his cock while she moved up and down. He moaned when she moved faster and quickly put his tongue back onto her clit and sucked it while he felt the pleasure from her mouth bursting like a firework in his body. The intimacy of this position wasn’t lost on him, and he knew this wasn’t just sex between them. They were using their mouths to show each other exactly how much they cared for each other. Every suck, lick and kiss was a message of hope and reassurance. They were exactly where they wanted to be. What they had was worth fighting for.

Raquel, knowing this was going to be their last time for a while, wanted to cum with him inside her. She reluctantly tore herself away from his mouth to lay down next to him, spreading her legs for him. With her hangover still not completely gone, she knew bouncing on top of him would be painful.

Sergio, loving that she was giving him control for once, sat up on the bed and moved himself to kneel in front of her entrance. He put her legs on his shoulders to get in even closer and slowly entered her.

“Faster,” she whispered when he began to thrust into her. Without missing a beat, he increased his pace. Her one hand moved behind her on the headboard and the other moved to her clit, rubbing it in quick circles while he moved in and out of her. He held on to her legs while fucking her at a pace that would satisfy her without him finishing too quickly.

“Soooo goood,” she moaned when he kept hitting _the_ spot with every thrust. “I’m so close, Sergio.” 

When he felt her begin to shake, signifying that she was in the midst of a powerful orgasm, he couldn’t hold on much longer and joined her, relishing in the euphoria of yet another amazing sex session.

“Wow,” Sergio commented in awe while moving himself out of her and positioning himself next to her. Without saying another word, he kissed her lips. It started soft as the two were both recovering from such powerful orgasms but grew more heated as their tongues swirled around each other, enjoying the way they tasted mingled together.

Raquel broke away, leaving a feather light kiss on his nose before moving back. “That was…”

“It’s always been amazing between us, but that felt like…”

“More?” Raquel filled in the word he was struggling with. 

“Yeah…” he sighed, still unable to form words after what had just happened. He was relieved that she felt it too – whatever this was.

“So, did I make up for last night?” she asked while taking his hand in hers and bringing it to her lips, leaving a few kisses on the back of it.

“And then some,” he sighed happily, loving this bubble of euphoria they were both in. The two remained silent for a few minutes as they stared at each other in wonder over the growing intimacy they both were feeling.

“Do you think it’s possible there’s something bigger working against us in this game?” She wondered while turning away from him to sit up, effectively bursting that bubble they’d just been lost in.

“What do you mean?”

“Alicia told me Martin convinced them to vote us in the Truth Booth. They were all planning to vote Monica and Daniel until he said something. And by the sound of it, his opinion changed pretty quickly…”

Sergio joined her by sitting up and grabbed his glasses from the night table, “A producer convinced him to do it,” the feeling of dread coursing through his body as he realized there was something nefarious happening in this game. The producers convinced Martin to change the vote and then filmed an intervention meeting… that was currently waiting for them downstairs.

“How do you know that?” She asked, startled both by this revelation and the fact he never told her about it.

“He told me,” Sergio admitted. 

“Shit,” she shook her head, choosing to ignore how she felt over him hiding such a big detail from her. “There’s definitely something bigger happening behind the scenes.”

“It sounds like it,” he frowned. 

“We have to convince everyone that we’ve broken up. The camera crew, producers and our other contestants. And eventually, they’ll stop focusing on us, and we can figure this all out,” Raquel said as she began strategizing their next move in their head. 

“A week,” Sergio suggested. When Raquel looked at him with a confused expression, he elaborated, “We don’t talk to each other for a week. When we go down there, I’ll make it seem like they appealed to my rational side and you’ll be hurt. You can win over the sympathy of the house while I use that time to try and get more information about what happened with Martin and the producer.”

“And what happens in a week?” Raquel asked, loving the fact that he was taking charge.

“We find a way to talk about what we’ve learned over the week and move into phase two.”

“What’s phase two?”

“Phase two is figuring out our perfect matches. And phase three is winning the game as quickly as possible.”

“Does this plan have a name?” Raquel smiled over the way his mind was working, clearly excited to work on the details of this plan.

He thought for a second and then smiled at her, “Plan Fuck Them All.”

Raquel laughed, “I love it.”

“It will be hard work, but think of how special our reunion will be….” Sergio’s eyes moved down her naked body, taking it in one last time before they left this room and followed through with their plan.

“You sure you’ll be able to resist me for so long?” She teased, enjoying the way his eyes drank in every part of her body like it was his last sip of water in the middle of the desert. She grinned when his eyes rested on her breasts for a few seconds longer.

His hand moved to her hip. “I’m a pillar of strength,” he repeated his phrase from earlier.

“Sure,” she grinned, moving her body on top of his and kissing him as a test. When he immediately responded, she laughed. “You’re going to have to be stronger than that.”

“How am I supposed to say no when you’re naked?” He grinned, kissing her again while hugging her as tight as possible to his body. “I’m going to miss you…”

“Me too,” she sighed while kissing his cheek. “Can you promise me one thing?”

“Of course,” Sergio replied while pushing a few strands of loose hair behind her ear.

“Please don’t fall for Sofia during the next few weeks…”

“Raquel….”

“I know she’s driven, smart, beautiful….and she really wants you…” she admitted, the vulnerability in her tone not lost on Sergio.

“And I want you,” Sergio countered. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“I know, I’m being stupid,” she shook her head as she tried to move away from him but his hold around her tightened. 

“She can try all she wants, but even if I didn’t meet you, I’d want nothing to do with her,” he reassured her. How he wished he could use this moment to tell her that he loved her, but he’d never said those words to anyone before and didn’t know how to approach the subject. A part of him felt like she needed to hear it, but his fear over the consequences of saying it won.

“Okay,” she nodded, knowing he was telling her the truth. She wished she wasn’t so vulnerable, but in a setting like this, it was easy to wear someone down. All they had was time to focus on all of their insecurities. “Should we have any rules?”

“Rules?”

“What we do with others….”

“Oh,” Sergio frowned, assuming they’d both be staying away from other contestants. But he had the most beautiful woman in his arms right now. He’d be crazy to think that others in the house wouldn’t attempt to take advantage of their separation. 

“I don’t plan to do anything,” she assured him, “But if you want to kiss or…”

He chose to kiss her in response to convey the simple fact that her lips were the only ones he wanted to feel against his own. 

“Ok, nothing with the other contestants,” she laughed, understanding his message clearly. She realized that this was a defining moment in their relationship, but she didn’t want to scare him by bringing up labels and exclusivity right before they were about to separate for a week. He likely didn’t understand the power of this moment, and it charmed her how pure his feelings for her were.

“How about we add some spice to phase two?” Sergio suggested, thinking about how torturous it would be to wait until the end of the game to be with her like this.

“Spice?” Raquel raised her eyebrows.

“We sneak around,” he suggested. “Our little secret.”

“And how are we supposed to do that in a house filled with people and cameras?” She asked skeptically while hoping he had an answer as the idea of sneaking around sounded enticing.

“There’s a small closet at the end of the hallway without any cameras. If we walk along the left side of the wall, we won’t be seen going in.”

“And how do you know this?”

“I may have looked around the house for privacy,” he admitted sheepishly.

“For?”

Sergio blushed as she attempted to pry the words out of his mouth. “For us…”

“Okay, phase two, our little secret will come into effect when everyone’s focus is off of us. We’ll need a signal…”

“When one of us taps our right shoulder three times, we’ll meet in that closet 30 minutes later,” he suggested.

“I like phase two,” she grinned while kissing him on the cheek and rolling off of him. “But first, we have to get through phase one, and we’ve already kept everyone waiting for an hour.”

Before Raquel could get out of bed, she felt Sergio’s hand on her arm, halting her movements. “What’s one more hour?” He smirked. “They can wait.”

Raquel moved her eyes down to see he was getting hard again. “Already?”

“I think he knows he’s about to go on a long break,” Sergio looked down at his crotch with fake sympathy.

“Aw, poor thing,” Raquel joined in and moved back onto the bed to take him in her hand. “Are you going to miss me?” She asked his hardening member. 

“So much,” Sergio whispered and rolled over so he was on top of her, the two of them getting lost in each other one last time before having to deal with the reality of their plan to win this game.

After their final naked farewell, they were getting dressed and preparing to put on the performance of a lifetime that Raquel hoped would even inspire Meryl Streep. After putting on her shirt, she looked up at the cameras with a feeling of dread. It was so easy to forget about them.

“Sergio, you unhooked the cameras, right?”

“Of course,” he assured her while taking her hand in his. “Are you ready?”

"Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up,” she pronounced each word, mimicking the character Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard.

“My last name is Marquina…” Sergio responded, missing the reference completely.

Raquel laughed over his lack of pop culture knowledge, “When we get out of this mess, the first thing we’re doing is watching some classic Hollywood movies…. Now, it’s time for the performance of your _life_.”

Usually, this proposal would sound horrific to Sergio but the way she casually talked about them spending time together after the game made his heart beat faster. No matter what happened in the next few weeks, he had faith they’d find their way back to each other. And then they would argue over movie choices and how they spent their free time together. Just the idea of it sounded heavenly. It gave him the strength to move forward with such a ridiculous plan to win this game.

* * *

**PRESENT TIME: DAY OF MATCH-UP CEREMONY #6**

Sergio worked with a couple of production assistants to set up the living room area like a classroom, facing the large glass windows. They had set up six pairs of chairs (a total of 12) in groups of three next to each other in two columns. He didn’t have a chalkboard so sketching on the window with one of Raquel’s least used lipsticks was his only option to conduct this class.

After only a brief reunion last night that was interrupted by Helsinki using the bathroom, he and Raquel agreed to move into phase two of their plan which included determining their perfect matches. This session was the first step towards solving the puzzle that was trying to tear them apart.

With the cameras set up around the makeshift classroom, it was time to call in the rest of the group. Sergio recruited Martin and Helsinki to gather everyone together as he stood in front of the “class” – a position that allowed him to feel confident and in control for the first time during this game.

He slyly nodded at Raquel as she walked in and took a seat next to Monica, the two women laughing over an inside joke. Sergio was relieved to see some of her joy reappearing this week.

Once everyone had taken their seats, he addressed the group, “I suppose you’re all wondering why you’re here.”

“No shit, Sherlock…” Alicia rolled her eyes, already annoyed by this set-up. Who did this nerd think he was? He was interrupting her “me time”.

Sergio ignored her heckles and continued on with his objective for the week. “As we all know, we only have four more chances to win this game. Now that we know Silene and Anibal are a match, we only have six other matches to figure out. If we can go into tomorrow’s ceremony getting more than four right, we can get on track to win this.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Suarez rolled his eyes in boredom. He hated Sergio and he hated school, so this was already wasting his time.

“I’m sorry, did we interrupt your hours of sitting and staring at the wall?” Raquel patronized.

“It’d be more interesting than this bullshit,” he shrugged in distaste.

“Do you want to win the money?” Sergio asked, taking control of his classroom.

“Of course,” the man shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Then I suggest you shut up and listen,” Sergio proposed with a stern tone that he reserved for his students.

Raquel, who was looking back and forth between the two, could feel a familiar tingle over how commanding he was as the professor. She’d never seen him like this before, and she liked it. _A lot._ Would it be too soon to tap her shoulder three times so they could wrap this up in 30 minutes?

“We’ve been lucky in this game because we have two of the eight matches already confirmed, and we can begin to use the data from previous weeks to figure out the puzzle for the rest of us. As we begin to unravel the pieces, we can start to put them together again,” he informed the group while writing the number 1 on the glass door.

“And how do we do that?” Sofia asked, smiling at him with lascivious expression, also loving this side of him.

“I’m glad you asked, Sofia,” Sergio pointed to her and walked into the middle of fake classroom (and ignoring her overt flirting). “By sitting next to who we chose as our match every week and starting to eliminate the people we know with certainty aren’t our matches.” He walked back to the front of the classroom and turned around to face them again. “On week one, we had one match, which we now know was Anibal and Silene. Everyone, please move to sit next to the person you were paired with that night. This person next to you definitely isn’t your match,” he instructed.

When everyone got into position, the following pairs sat next to each other: Raquel and Alicia, Agata and Sergio, Suarez alone (he was paired with Angel), Sofia alone (she was paired with Mari Carmen), Marseille and Julia, Helsinki and Monica, and Daniel and Martin.

Sergio stood up and walked in front of the makeshift classroom again, “The person next to you is not your match.”

“No shit,” Martin snickered next to Daniel. 

“This is fucking bullshit,” Alicia moaned while looking at Raquel.

“Week two is where it gets interesting,” Sergio ignored the commentary and moved forward, “This was the week that Monica and Daniel began sitting together, and every time they sat next to each other, there was always a blue beam. For the purpose of tomorrow’s matches, I propose assuming they are a perfect match.”

“I like that,” Daniel grinned. “Maybe she’ll finally…”

“No,” Monica interrupted him. “What did we talk about again?” 

“No commentary on our sex life… or lack there of,” he replied, his voice monotone like he was a young child being reprimanded for eating all of the cookies.

“I feel like I’m dating a kid,” Monica whispered to Raquel who was sitting in front of her. She couldn’t help but laugh at their dynamic.

Sergio, once again, instructed everyone to sit next to their week two partners which included: Marseille and Raquel, Sergio and Agata, Alicia and Martin, Daniel and Monica, Julia on her own (Silene was her partner), Sofia on her own (Angel as her partner), Suarez alone (he sat next to Mari Carmen) and Helsinki on his own (he sat next to Anibal).

When Sergio stood up again, Raquel had to fight following him with her eyes. She could feel herself growing hotter and hotter every time he spoke, but she knew if she began looking at him with the lust she was currently feeling, their secret would be quickly discovered.

“Assuming Daniel and Monica are a match, this further eliminates Alicia and Martin and Marseille and Raquel from this group.”

“No,” Marsaille grumbled over the loss of Raquel as his potential match while Martin and Alicia simply shrugged, unbothered by this result.

“Week three is where it gets interesting,” Sergio revealed with a smirk on his face, loving being back in this role. The puzzle of this game finally giving him something new to focus on. “Assuming Daniel and Monica were one of the three matches with Angel and Mari Carmen, there is one more potential match. Everyone, please go sit next to your match on week three.”

Sergio found Raquel in the back row and took the seat next to her while everyone shuffled around. With one quick glance at her, he could tell she was getting turned on by this – the way her pupils were dilated, how she was biting her lip next to him, and the way she was focusing on playing with her hands. He licked his lips in response but quickly closed his eyes to stop his own arousal from invading his senses. 

He thought back to the second week in the house during their speed dating when Agata talked about the tension she was feeling with him. Was this how she felt? The yearning to touch and get closer but knowing she couldn’t? The temptation to lightly tap his shoulder was overwhelming his senses, causing him to quickly jump up. He couldn’t focus when he knew she was… No, Sergio. Don’t go there. Think about week three matches. Nothing sexy about week three matches.

He ran up to the front of the room while Raquel attempted to hide her own grin over the way he reacted to her. He was one of the few people who could make her weak sexually with just one look. What sorcery did he have over her, she wondered as she crossed her legs in an attempt to trap the wetness she could feel seeping through her thin layer of cotton underwear. 

“There were two perfect matches that week, and they could only be two couples as the rest have all been eliminated: Monica and Daniel and Suarez and Helsinki.

“No,” Suarez laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s not possible,” Helsinki denied. 

“The numbers don’t lie,” Sergio shrugged but looked at Helsinki with sympathy. 

Agata, who was sitting behind Helsinki, put her arm on his shoulder for comfort, “I’m sorry, Helsi. It’s just a game, and you don’t have to give that asshole anything. All you have to do is sit next to him.”

“This is complete nonsense,” Suarez denied again. “I will never sit next to him.”

“Do you want to win 70.000 €?” Sergio asked.

“Of course,” he mumbled.

“Then you will sit next to him,” he replied, his tone making it clear he wasn’t ready to hear another argument from either man. “This is just a game, and not all of us are getting who we want,” he briefly looked at Raquel sadly, “so suck it up.”

Sergio then instructed everyone to sit next to their matches from week four and five, noting that there was one more potential match who sat next to each other: Julia and Sergio or Alicia and Agata. 

“So, this means that given our current knowledge, I recommend the following pairings this week: Agata/Alicia, Monica/Daniel, Helsinki/Suarez, Raquel/Martin, Me/Marseille, Julia/Sofia. We should get at least five out of eight matches.”

“And if we choose not to listen to this crap?” Suarez sat back in his seat, annoyed by who Sergio said his match was. He never planned on listening to the nerd, but this made it even worse. 

“Then you’re an idiot,” Sergio shrugged.

“Suarez, just do what he’s saying,” Agata pleaded. ‘Winning this money is the most important thing right now.”

Sofia, realizing that the chances of her and Sergio being a match were slim to none, wasn’t ready to give into his match scenario. He had to have gotten something wrong, she thought. None of these couples were confirmed and, therefore, he couldn’t know for sure.

“There’s one wrinkle in your data,” Sofia pointed out after going through all of the matches mentally, “It’s possible that Daniel and Monica aren’t the match and it was Martin and Alicia for those two weeks.”

Sergio reviewed all of the data in his mind for a moment and realized there was a possibility she was right, “That’s very possible,” Sergio considered. 

“Does that mean me and Helsinki and I aren’t a…” Suarez asked hopefully.

“You’re definitely a match,” Sofia smiled sadly. “I recommend we change the pairings to Me/Sergio, Martin/Alicia, Suarez/Helsinki, Monica/Raquel, Daniel/Julia, and Agata/Marseille. We’ll definitely get one new match, so we won’t blackout and at least one more since Sergio and I are likely a match.”

Oh, there she goes, Raquel rolled her eyes. Concocting her own scenario to be with Sergio. Daniel and Monica have been connecting since week two, and the likelihood of the two of them being a match was high. She frowned over the hypocrisy she was seeing unfolding in front of her. She wasn’t allowed to be with Sergio, but Sofia could manipulate the data to be with him rather than choosing the strategy that would likely win them the money. Yet another confirmation that the intervention had nothing to do with winning the game.

“Tonight, I recommend going with my suggestion on the board,” Sergio pointed to the glass door with their names written in lipstick. “If we get five or more matches, then we know we’re on the right track to win this game. Which is the most important goal right now,” he looked pointedly at Sofia who appeared to be pouting. How could Raquel think he’d ever develop feelings for a woman who acted like a petulant child when she didn’t get her way?

“Class is dismissed,” Sergio smiled as the group began to leave, relieved that they finally seemed to be getting somewhere. 

Sergio knew he was on the right track of figuring out this game, but the bigger obstacle wasn’t getting these matches correct. It was getting these selfish players to follow his strategy. 

* * *

With the match-up ceremony in only a couple of hours, Sergio was currently standing in the shower. He felt like he was washing away his frustration over how reluctant everyone was to follow his strategy. Why did they only care about the game when it came to his relationship with Raquel?

With his hair filled with shampoo, he heard the shower curtains open and nearly stopped breathing until he noticed a very naked Raquel in front of him, grinning.

“You were amazing,” she gushed while moving him out of the way to stand under the shower head. 

Sergio’s eyes moved down her body currently dripping in water while she wet her hair. “What are the chances anyone actually listens?” he asked in an attempt to distract himself over how arousing she was next to him in this small space.

“Oh, they won’t,” she shook her head sadly, “but that’s where I come in. You gave us the groundwork and I’ll convince people to follow the strategy. But it may take a couple of weeks.”

“We make a great team,” he grinned while grabbing the bottle of shampoo and squirting some in his hands. He gestured for her to turn around, so he could begin massaging the liquid into her hair. 

“We do….Mmm, that feels nice,” she closed her eyes in ecstasy while he massaged her scalp softly. 

“You are breaking our rules right now. I didn’t see the signal,” Sergio teased while she moved her head under the shower head to rinse out the shampoo.

“I wasn’t anticipating how sexy you would be in professor mode,” she smirked while moving her hand to his semi hard cock and slowly massaging it. “Are you complaining, professor?”

“Never.”

“That’s what I thought,” she grinned while she began to run her hand up and down his length.

Sergio’s eyes closed as the sensation of her wet hand on him felt heavenly, “What about the cameras?”

“Somehow, the camera in front of the bathroom was hit with a ball and now angled towards the wall,” she grinned while slowly getting on her knees and licking around his tip.

“You’re….” he wanted to say wicked or evil but his mind went completely blank when her mouth wrapped around the tip of his cock, licking him thoroughly before taking as much of him in her mouth as she could.

After sucking him for a few minutes, she moved her mouth off of him to lick down his length to his balls, putting one in her mouth and sucking on briefly before looking back up at Sergio. His one hand was steadying himself against the wall of the shower while the other was lightly massaging the side of her head. His touch so light she almost didn’t feel it.

“I’m what?”

“A goddess,” he groaned when she licked back up his length and put her mouth around his head again, enjoying the way he felt against her tongue. 

“That’s what I thought,” she laughed, and the vibration of her mouth over him caused him to moan. 

“Quiet,” she warned him, leaving one last kiss on the base of his cock and standing back up to face him. Immediately, he kissed her. His tongue moving messily in her mouth and along her lips in complete ecstasy. It had been too long since he’d felt her mouth on him. She was utterly addictive. 

She nibbled on his lip lightly before pulling away. “I missed this,” his heart raced when she voiced exactly what he’d just been thinking.

“Me too,” he looked into her eyes seriously while his hand moved down the side of her body, enjoying how slick she felt. His hand stopped at her core, using his middle finger to feel along her slit. She was _wet._

“I told you the professor turned me on,” she smirked when she saw him pause over how turned on she was.

He added another finger and began to rub up and down her slit, his hand quickly coated in her nectar. 

“I want you,” she moaned while his fingers began to move in a circular pattern over her clit.

“You have me,” he smiled while moving his fingers faster around her clit and moving his head down to leave sweet kisses on her forehead, cheek, and finally, lips.

“I mean,” she grabbed his hard cock and moved her body closer to him.

“Oh,” he smiled, embarrassed briefly that he’d completely missed her meaning. He pushed her against the wall under the shower head that was now spraying warm water. He angled his cock to enter her, her wetness allowing him to slide in with complete ease. Moving his hands to her ass, he encouraged her to wrap her legs around him while he lifted her up to get a better angle. 

In response, she wrapped her hands around his neck, and two began to thrust into each other, once again getting lost in the sensation of how beautifully their bodies fit together. His lips captured hers when he heard her begin to moan to keep them as quiet as possible to ensure no one passing by the bathroom could hear the sounds of their lovemaking. 

And here they here, Raquel pressed up against the wall, Sergio thrusting into her just softly enough that the sounds of their bodies slapping together couldn’t be heard beyond the bathroom walls, and their tongues playing a game of peek-a-boo as they grew more and more consumed by the ecstasy they were feeling by being together again.

For this reason, neither heard the bathroom door open until a voice yelled out, “Sergio?!”

Raquel was the first to hear it and pulled her mouth from Sergio’s, gesturing towards the direction the voice came from on the other side of the bathroom. Luckily, the shower had an opaque curtain and was angled that you had to walk deeper into the bathroom to see inside of it. She kept her legs wrapped abound Sergio and moved her head to his chest so that she couldn’t be seen if the person walked into the bathroom. Right now, it would look like only Sergio was in the shower.

“Yes?” Sergio called back, looking towards the front of the bathroom.

“Are you going to be much longer?” Martin asked. “I’ve been waiting for almost a half an hour.”

Raquel moved her mouth to his ear and whispered as quietly as possible, ‘Can you pull out of me?”

Sergio looked at her apologetically and moved his swollen member out of her, missing her heat immediately. “I wasn’t aware we were meeting,” Sergio addressed Martin.

“No, but I was hoping I could borrow your maroon dress shirt?”

All of this over a fucking shirt? Sergio wanted to get out of this shower and kill him. Strangle him with that maroon shirt. 

“Of course,” Sergio simply responded, doing his best to mask the tension he felt. 

“Great, thanks friend!” Martin smiled and then walked towards the door.

Sergio, thinking they were in the clear was startled when he heard his friend’s voice again. “Are you okay?”

Of all the times for Martin to show concern, _this_ was the moment he chose. His arms tightened around Raquel as he looked down at her apologetically. “I’m great.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been in there for a long time…”

“I got lost in thought. I’m okay, I promise,” he replied, hoping that he’d be happy with this answer.

“How are things with Raquel?” He asked worriedly, continuing to probe Sergio as to why he was taking so long in the shower.

Raquel nearly laughed over how absurd this was. Here, Martin was asking how his friend was doing with his break up while she, the woman being asked about, was naked and wrapped around his body.

Sergio could feel Raquel shaking against him in an attempt to hold in her laughter. This was ridiculous. “Things are as can be expected,” Sergio lied. “We’re giving each other space to win this game.” 

So much space, Raquel mused. You couldn’t even put a piece of paper between them right now.

“That’s very noble of you both,” Martin replied. “I’m here if you need to talk about it. You’ve been so quiet this week.”

Why couldn’t he get the hint and leave? Sergio groaned in his mind. “Thanks, but maybe after my shower?”

“Oh, of course!” Martin backed away and went to the door. “And thanks for lending me your shirt. It’ll go perfectly with my suit.”

“Any time,” Sergio replied. When he heard the door click shut, he looked down at Raquel who was shaking with laughter. “Did you forget to lock the door?”

“Fuck,” Raquel looked down sheepishly. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking…”

“We’ll have to be more careful next time,” he smiled down at her, instantly forgiving her for the mishap when he saw how adorable her pout was.

“We should probably get out of here before someone else walks in,” she said reluctantly while grabbing the body wash and quickly cleaning her body. She did the same for him, purposely ignoring the more private bits and passed him the bottle to finish up while she rinsed herself off.

Sergio looked down to see his cock softening over the whole exchange and realized they didn’t have enough time to start over. He really was going to kill Martin for this. He followed her direction and put soap on the parts of his body she missed and rinsed himself off, turning the water setting to cold for the last few seconds.

“You go out first and then I’ll wait a few minutes and run out,” Raquel instructed.

“Good plan.”

“I thought sneaking around would be so sexy…”

“Until we get interrupted,” Sergio frowned, annoyed that they couldn't finish what they started.

“I’ll make it up to you,” she grinned playfully while turning off the water and grabbing two large towels next to the stall.

“You always do,” he grinned while drying his body with his towel, marveling over how comfortable they were together naked in a non-sexual setting. He wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed his glasses from the counter, putting them back on his face, finally seeing her clearly since she entered the bathroom. “You’re beautiful.”

“We don't have time for that,” she blushed playfully, pushing him away to leave.

“See you at the circus,” he grinned while leaning in to give her a farewell peck on her lips.

She nodded as he left the bathroom, suddenly missing his presence. After a week of purposely staying apart, she realized just how much she’d come to depend on him during her time here. It showed her that life without him felt empty and how much she wanted him in hers. They would survive this, right?

* * *

“Welcome to your sixth match-up ceremony!” Andres grinned when everyone had walked on stage dressed to impress. This was always his favourite time of the week, and he was delighted to see that the mood of the house had improved since last week.

“Before we begin, welcome back our two confirmed perfect marches, Angel and Mari Carmen and Silene and Anibal!” 

Andres waited as everyone smiled, waved and blew kisses to the couples who were no longer living in the house. “I heard you were all strategizing this week,” Andres smiled, looking right at Sergio. 

“It was a waste of time,” Suarez rolled his eyes at Sergio. 

“You just didn’t like your match, selfish jerk. Helsinki is one of the best people in this game and you’d be lucky to have him as your perfect match,” Agata snapped at him, losing all patience with his attitude.

“It’s okay, Agata,” Helsinki smiled at her in an attempt to keep the peace.

“No, where does he get off thinking he can talk about you like that?!” Agata continued. “If you were my match, I’d marry you tomorrow.”

“I don’t think he’s ever seen a vagina before,” Martin laughed over her declaration.

“Stop this,” Raquel chimed in. “She’s trying to stick up for her friend who somehow drew the short straw of a perfect match in this game. How can we believe in this process when this game matches the sweetest man with a piece of shit like Suarez?”

“Hey!” Suarez spoke up, offended by her words. 

“Don’t even try me today,” Raquel shut him down. Sergio had to look away to hide the laugh he was struggling to hold in. He wondered if Martin interrupting them earlier was putting her on edge.

“Okay everyone,” Andres laughed at the conflict breaking out in front of him. “I’d like to remind you all that there is a reason for all perfect matches in this game, and you all have to get to know each other beyond the surface to see why.” When he saw everyone quiet down, he continued, “Are we ready to move on from this superficial shit?”

“Yes,” many of them mumbled reluctantly.

“Good. I say this every week, but many of you seem to be ignoring me. Play this game with your hearts first. Get to know each other beyond the surface and trust in this process. Strategy can only get you so far.”

Sergio rolled his eyes at this speech. It wasn’t lost on him that if he were close to being right, the showrunners would be doing everything in their power to convince the contestants to choose without reason to prolong this nightmare of a game. Like he knew the first week he walked in, this was his version of hell. Reason and logic came in secondary to emotions and manipulation. What a joke.

Sergio’s suspicions were further confirmed when Suarez was the first to choose again. The producers knew what they were doing with him – a wildcard in the game who would make them work until the last second for this win because he prioritized his ego first.

“Suarez, who is your match this week?” Andres asked, knowing this would be the first break in Sergio’s plan. 

“Sergio,” Suarez grinned.

“Excuse me?” Andres did a double take not expecting this turn of events.

Sergio rolled his eyes, hating this man more and more every day. He took a deep breath, knowing he wasn’t allowed to say no in this scenario – one of the cardinal rules of the show. If he wasn’t playing this game for Raquel to win, this would have been the moment he walked off that stage to never turn back. He looked at Raquel from across the stage who was staring at him with those big doe eyes that made his heart flutter. He knew, no matter what, she had his back. She was his strength to get through this. 

“Are you ever going to come here, perfect match?” Suarez grinned.

Son of a bitch, Sergio groaned internally. He never used the word hate towards another human being before, but this man was earning it. He walked to centre stage to stand next to Suarez while his brother had the audacity to laugh at him.

“Is this a perfect match?” Andres attempted to ask without breaking into laughter. Every breath was a struggle. As terrible as this man was, he was wonderful for TV.

“No.”

“Yes,” Suarez grinned when they responded simultaneously. “In all your boring predictions, you left out us, honeybuns.”

Sergio’s hands went into fists next to him, using every ounce of zen he could find within to stop him from attacking the man next to him who was enjoying this way too much.

“You’re so wound up, Sergio. I think you need a good cock in you to calm you down,” Suarez grinned, “I’m offering by the way…”

Sergio looked at Andres, ignoring the crudeness of the man next to him. He was losing his patience with every word that came out of his mouth. He knew this was all for show. He knew this man wanted screen time. And, most of all, he knew this was his revenge for punching him last week. “Can we lock in?” he asked, feeling completely defeated.

Andres nodded and gestured for both of them to lock in and take their seat. As the two men walked to the small seat for them, Suarez turned to Sergio. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you try to ruin this game for me,” he whispered as the two took a seat. Sergio was only halfway on the chair, wanting to get as far away from this jerk as possible.

“Moving on,” Andres smirked. “Alicia, why don’t you come down and tell us who your perfect match is this week?”

Alicia walked to the front, still debating what she was going to do. She could go with Sergio’s suggestion and choose Agata who she was realizing, more and more every day, could be her match. Or she could trust Sofia and choose Martin, the safer pick right now. She missed the early days of this game when she was enjoying casual fucks and choosing whoever she felt like sitting next to, but now the stakes were so high and every decision mattered. 

“Hi Andres,” she smiled when she reached centre stage.

“Hello gorgeous,” Andres smiled, “Who is your perfect match this week?”

Alicia looked back to see Agata’s hopeful eyes and suddenly could feel her heart racing with fear. Sorry Sergio, she thought, and then went with the safer option, “Martin.”

Martin twirled happily and skipped towards the stage, taking her hands in his and dancing with her for a moment. “Good choice, mi amor.”

Andres began to roll his eyes over the theatrics but stopped himself before he showed that feeling on camera for millions of viewers to read into. “And why is this a match?”

“We sat together for a couple of weeks and each time, we got a beam of light,” Alicia shrugged, her voice sounding completely monotone for the first time. It was clear her heart wasn’t in this selection.

“She says the most romantic things,” Martin joked, placing an arm around her.

“Fuck off,” she rolled her eyes, lacking the patience to spar with him this week. She simply wanted to get this over with and ignore how hurt Agata looked behind her over the selection.

“See? It’s love,” Martin grinned as the two locked in and took their seat.

The next few pairings went smoothly (thankfully) with Monica and Daniel, Agata and Helsinki and Julia and Marseille partnering up. Sergio rolled his eyes at the last pairing, knowing they definitely weren’t a perfect match from week one. Did no one listen to him earlier?

“And that leaves Raquel and Sofia,” Andres nearly laughed at this turn of events. “Please join me, ladies,” Andres instructed while the two reluctantly walked to centre stage, dreading the fact they were about to lock in together. 

“A perfect match?” Andres asked while trying to hold in laughter.

While Raquel glared at him, Sofia couldn’t help share her disgust for this situation, “Never in a million years. The only thing good about her is her taste in men,” the younger woman shrugged.

“She clearly hasn’t met my ex husband,” Raquel attempted to joke, but it came out somewhat defeated. For Raquel, the feeling of hopelessness was not over locking in with the woman next to her, but rather with the knowledge that this group of people weren’t playing to win. The intervention for her and Sergio was a fake TV device to create drama and new connections to prolong the story. It had nothing to do with winning the game because if it had been about winning, the producers would have encouraged everyone to follow Sergio’s strategy. Sergio was right, they really were living in some superficial version of hell, but luckily she had him. Her rock in all of this. The one person she trusted completely.

“Okay, lock in ladies” Andres instructed when he realized it was clear Raquel wasn’t going to take the bait and have a fight with the woman next to her.

Once they were all seated, the lights went down. When it remained dark for a while, one of the lighting crew on staff asked the camera operators to stop as there was something wrong with the system.

“Looks like we’re having a technical issue,” Andres informed the group. “Stand up, take a break and hopefully we’ll have this solved in a couple of minutes.”

Everyone took this opportunity to stretch their legs and walk around the stage and the yard between the stage and the house.

Sergio, knowing this was one of the few opportunities he’d have to talk to his brother without cameras, walked to the front of the stage.

“What’s going on?” He asked, getting straight to the point.

“No hello, how are you, I miss you? You pain me, Sergio,” Andres put his hand over his heart in over exaggerated suffering.

“Andres…”

“It’s just a technical issue, no big deal,” Andres shrugged as Sergio glared at him. Who pissed in his cheerios this morning?

“No, I mean with the game. I gave everyone a rock solid strategy and no one followed it,” he said, completely frustrated by everything that happened during this ceremony.

“I guess people chose to pick with their hearts,” Andres shrugged.

“Cut the shit,” Sergio frowned. “What’s going on behind the scenes? Why does it feel like everyone is working against me?”

“My brother,” Andres addressed affectionately, “Nothing is happening. The people choosing their matches are idiots.”

“No, producers are in their ears telling them what to do to get more screen time.”

“That’s called reality TV, Sergio,” Andres sighed, turning off his fake charm. He looked behind him to make sure that no one was nearby. “This is the game. We can’t have everyone win week 6 or 7 when we have contracts.”

“So the ‘up to 10 tries’ is a crock of shit. We’re here until the very end.” Sergio rolled his eyes.

“Not necessarily,” Andres informed him. “But you have to accept you have no control here, brother. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what this game was going to do to you.”

“Can you at least tell me what happened with me and Raquel not being a match?”

“You’re not a match,” the older man shrugged. “There’s nothing more to it. Sergio, you are my only family. You know I love you more than anything. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

Sergio looked at him, not buying this act. He knew his brother. He knew his tells when he was lying, and being overly affectionate and kind was one of them.

“Okay, you don’t believe me,” Andres accepted. He knew this body language too well, and he may as well be talking to a wall at this point. “No woman is worth not trusting your own brother for. Remember that.”

“You’re one to talk,” Sergio scoffed, his mind going back to five marriages and countless girlfriends who Andres always put before him until he was heartbroken or in financial trouble.

“Fair enough,” Andres nodded. “Don’t do anything stupid, brother. Keep your head down for the next few weeks, and you’ll get through this.”

What both men missed, however, was Raquel walking up to the side of them just in time to overhear the word “brother” come from Andres’ mouth. Was _he_ Sergio’s brother? Why didn't he tell her?

Before she could get closer, the blue beams turned on again, signifying that the tech error had been resolved. The production crew called everyone back on set to take their seats for the final portion of the match-up ceremony.

When everyone was ready, Andres went on with his weekly script about every blue light signifying a perfect match, the money they’d win, and that they were lucky enough to be starting with two beams for Angel/Mari Carman and Anibal/Silene.

As the lights went down, all Raquel could think about was how this man who she considered her safe place in this game may not be who she thought he was. So many questions swirled through her mind over whether it had all been a lie. Had he been playing her from the beginning? Was he part of whatever plan appeared to be in place to suppress the win? Was his strategy session today a complete decoy?

Raquel turned her head, meeting Sergio’s eyes briefly, growing more confused to see that he was looking at her longingly. She gave him a small smile and quickly turned around to focus at the blue lights.

And while one beam of light turned on to signify one new match, Raquel couldn’t stop the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this entire game was stacked against her to lose. And the one person who she thought was her partner in this could be her biggest enemy.

When the lights went up to confirm there was only one new match, Raquel’s heart broke even more. How the fuck was she supposed to win this game now?

**[cheesy voiceover]** _Sergio would never... right?! Will these contestants ever get over themselves and try to win? And poor Alicia, will she ever admit she has feelings for Agata? We are missing her sass! Only 4 chapters left to find out!_


	14. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ALL who have continued to read this ridiculously long crack world. I'm so blown away by the support so many chapters into this story. Your comments, tweets, messages and kudos/likes have really inspired me to be more creative with this story. I've tried to challenge myself as a storyteller, and I hope you'll stay with me for the final three chapters. 
> 
> This chapter isn't as quirky as past chapters because this one is all about Raquel and Sergio and their future. I want this story to have different levels. The next few will be quirky and fun again, I promise.
> 
> TW // very small mention of violence while dating in this chapter (only one line)
> 
> Thank you! Hope you enjoy the ride... ;)

_ Raquel turned her head, meeting Sergio’s eyes briefly, growing more confused to see that he was looking at her longingly. She gave him a small smile and quickly turned around to focus at the blue lights. _

_ And while one beam of light turned on to signify one new match, Raquel couldn’t stop the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this entire game was stacked against her to lose. And the one person who she thought was her partner in this could be her biggest enemy. _

_ When the lights went up to confirm there was only one new match, Raquel’s heart broke even more. How the fuck was she supposed to win this game now? _

The group walked back to the house after yet another disastrous match-up ceremony, and the tension was so thick that nearly everyone felt suffocated. The lack of progress, the selfishness of certain players, and the fact they’d all been trapped in this space for weeks was weighing on the remaining players. And it could be seen in the way some were snapping at each other over mundane things such as a new stain on the couch, the messiness of the kitchen, or Suarez’s existence.

Raquel, who felt like the rug had been pulled from her just minutes ago, couldn’t stand the added tension. She watched Sergio who was sitting at the kitchen table in silence with his head down deep in thought. She could feel a small tug in her heart. That wasn’t the look of a man who was behind this chaos. Perhaps he wasn’t the adversary she had quickly assumed him to be, but who was he really? Why was he here? Was there a chance he was playing with her heart? Or was he just as much of a victim of this game as she was?

It was these confusing moments that made her hate the voice in her head. The constant doubt she felt due to her history of failed relationships. Of the many times she let her infatuation cloud her reason when meeting someone new. Her job forced her to be pragmatic. She was guided by a strict set of rules and laws. But, in her life, she could be an idealist. She could lose herself in love; however, every poor experience tore a small piece of that idealism from her heart. She became cautious. She didn’t go on a second date with someone if they didn’t meet her checklist of requirements. Feelings and love were no longer the most important thing she needed in a partner. She brought the pragmatism she strove for in her work to all parts of her life. And, in the most recent months before the show, decided that romance and love were no longer worth the effort. Her daughter and mother were enough for her. And she was only here for her mother’s future.

And then came Sergio.

With Sergio, she let her feelings guide her. She forgot about her checklist and followed her instincts. She let herself be swept up in the happiness she felt with every look, touch, and kiss. The way they could talk for hours energized her and how they made love with so much trust was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. There was a comfort between them from the first moment they met. A quiet understanding over how they felt about not only the game but also how they approached life. Their core values aligned even if they didn’t share all of the same views. He was someone she could envision sharing her life with. She could feel herself opening up to him about her past, her family and her future desires.

But was it the same for him? Was he ready for a true partnership in his life? Was he willing to give up his autonomy to be part of her chaos? He had once assured her he was. He said the right things to appease her. But this lie of omission made her rethink his motives. Did he simply say those things because he thought that was what she wanted to hear? Did he want it too? Or, was it the worst possible motivation, fooling her for good TV?

The questions continued to swirl in her mind as she watched him spread cheese on a cracker and bring it to his lips. She could see the defeat he felt with every motion – how he haphazardly spread cheese on the cracker and how uncaring he was by the crumbs that fell from his mouth on the table. These weren’t the actions of a man of deception. There was no way. Was there? She could feel the dread growing in the pit of her stomach. The anger coursing through her veins. The hurt lumped in the back of her throat. She knew she had to confront him. 

But not tonight. She could feel the array of emotions vibrating within her. She could feel the tension in the air. The cameras were everywhere tonight to depict the added “drama”. This wasn’t the right time. This wasn’t the moment to ask him the questions that may destroy the happiness she’d found in this game. The hope she had in a happier life with him after this game.

The very thought of losing it, no matter how short their time had been together, nearly immobilized her. Oh, how she wished she could borrow a lie detector test from work to get to the truth. 

And so, after minutes of staring at him from across the room, she decided not to do anything irrational and go to sleep. And hope that everything she felt during her time in this game didn’t blow up in her face tomorrow. 

* * *

The next morning, Sergio walked into the kitchen to find Raquel making coffee and cutting fruit for her breakfast. He tried to smile at her, but she didn’t look up from her current task to even acknowledge his presence.

There must be cameras around, he thought. Good thinking, he nodded to himself and changed his expression to something more neutral as he grabbed a mug from the cupboard. 

“Can you pass the milk?” He asked, gesturing to the glass jar next to her.

When she forcefully whipped it towards him, he nearly missed grabbing it. She was taking this role very seriously today, he thought again as he cleaned up some of the milk that had spilled from the top of the glass jar when he stopped it from sliding off the counter.

He grabbed an orange from the counter, “Can you pass me the knife?”

When he noticed her getting ready to nearly throw it, he stopped, ‘Hey!” 

Snapping out of her trance, Raquel realized what she was about to do, “Oh, sorry Sergio,” she apologized without looking up and her voice void of all emotion. 

“Are you okay?” He asked while grabbing a new knife from the drawer to slice his orange. For the first time, he noticed how tense she was next to him and wondered if it was only acting or if there was something else bothering her. 

“Not really, no,” she shook her head, grabbing the bowl of fruit and coffee. 

He frowned as she walked away from him without even a second glance. “Last night’s match-up ceremony was awful…”

_ Was it ever,  _ she thought. Rather than showing any rage, she simply nodded while taking a seat at the table to focus on eating her breakfast. Making any form of small talk only aggravated her even more after a night of tossing and turning over the intentions of the man who was currently staring at her and trying to get her attention.

Sergio, losing patience, took a seat across from her at the table and made their secret gesture of three taps on the shoulder. 

At first, Raquel didn’t react. She took a sip of her coffee and then moved her eyes back to her fruit bowl. 

Sergio, growing more worried over her silence, was about to voice his concern but was stopped by a subtle nod from her. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her finally engaging with him. 

Once he was in the small closet, he mentally went over everything that may have annoyed her yesterday.

The shower? As frustrating as that was, they had left the bathroom amused over nearly being caught. 

The match-up ceremony? Perhaps Sofia said something while they were matched together? His annoyance over antics was growing every day, but he knew Raquel wasn’t threatened by her (and had no reason to be).

So, what could it be? He thought about it for the next half hour as he waited for her in the tight, dark space. Every small detail ran through his mind and yet nothing made sense.

After nearly getting a headache due to overthinking, the door finally opened, and Raquel quickly stepped inside. She forgot how cramped this small closet was and quickly realized that confronting him in the space wasn’t ideal, but they had no other choice as she couldn’t let this hang over them for much longer.

Sergio moved to the corner to make more room for her, quickly noticing that she was trying to put space in between them. He could feel his chest tighten as he waited for her to verbalize what had been gnawing at her. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it), she was very direct.

“Why didn’t you tell me that your brother is Andres?” Raquel asked, staring him straight in the eye.

_ Shit,  _ Sergio quickly realized. 

She continued before he could put any words together, “You may want to be more careful the next time you two talk on set. You never know who may accidentally overhear…” she warned him coldly while tying her hair back as the small closet grew warmer.

“I-” Sergio stumbled, unsure of what to say. He wanted to reassure her. He wanted to tell her that he had every intention of telling her. Unfortunately, the voice in his head and lips had different ideas. “I didn’t realize anyone was around…”  _ Idiot.  _ Of all the things he could have said...

“Clearly,” Raquel nearly laughed over how ridiculous this was. “I thought all night about why you didn’t tell me. At first, I thought it was because you and your brother were setting me up…”

“Raquel, no,” he quickly interrupted to deny the thought. How could she think he’d-

“But when I started to calm down, I thought back on everything we’d been through together and realized that you probably weren’t part of some big conspiracy to destroy me…”

“I would never. I-” he wanted to finish the phrase with  _ love you  _ but, again, his own fears of saying those words to someone for the first time held him back.

“I’m tired,” she sighed after a few seconds of silence. 

“Tired?” Sergio asked, confused over where she was going.

“I’ve been in a lot of relationships where I have been the one to push. I was the one to push for the label. Push the person to open up to me. Push for the logical steps in a relationship. And every time, it ended in my heart being broken or, in the case of my ex husband, my entire soul being shattered. I’m not doing it anymore…”

“What are you saying?”

Raquel’s eyes softened when she saw the fear in Sergio’s. “I like you, Sergio. I think what we have is special, and I want to be with you. In here, when we leave… I want you in my life. But I won’t push for it. You not trusting me enough to tell me who your brother is tells me that you’re not ready for the type of relationship I need right now…”

“Raquel…”

“And I wish I could tell you that I’m patient, and that I’ll wait for you to be ready, but I’m tired. I can’t be the one who keeps opening up and pushing you to do the same. I’m willing to let you into my life, meet my daughter and my mother. I want to give it all to you, which is crazy because we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but if you’re not willing to do the same and share your family with me and open your life to me… then what are we even doing here?” Raquel asked, her voice growing more and more raspy as she fought the overwhelming need to sob.

Sergio was taken aback by her words. He was ready to grovel for forgiveness for his brother, but he quickly realized this had nothing to do with Andres. She needed him to show her he was all in, and the thought of it terrified him. He’d never been in a serious relationship like this before. How was he supposed to know how to give her what she needed? Was he wasting her time? Would he ever be able to open his life to her in the way she wants? For some reason, offering to be part of her life was a lot easier than opening up his life to her.

“Raquel, you mean a lot to me… It may have been only a few weeks, but I really care about you.”

“I know you do,” she smiled reassuringly, a tenderness in her voice that filled his heart with so much love.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Andres sooner. To be honest, I wasn’t even thinking…”

“That’s what scares me,” Raquel sighed. “You didn’t even think that I should know. It never crossed your mind that it would be important to me…”

He looked away from her. She was right. The thought had never crossed his mind. He was so used to keeping his life in a locked vault that he rarely shared with anyone. Every relationship he’d been in included a separation of his personal life from his romantic life. And here she was expecting for him to throw away his compartments and let her into his whole life. He wasn’t sure he could do that.

“I’m going to play all my cards here,” Raquel took a deep breath, “I want to be with you. All of you. I want to meet your brother outside of this, your friends, you colleagues. I want to be part of your life if you’d let me. And I want you to be part of mine. But if that’s not something you want or can give, then I think we need to end this here before it gets too complicated. I need to know that we’re going in the same direction to move forward with you.”

Sergio looked away from her. A part of him wanted to jump up and down in celebration over her wanting to be with him and making it very clear. And the other part was terrified he would never be able to give her what she wanted no matter how much he tried to be more open. It may never be enough for her.

“You don’t have to answer now,” she added when she could see how conflicted he looked over her declaration. She knew this was a lot for him to process. “This isn’t an ultimatum. I’m not expecting you to change who you are for me, but I also can’t be the only one opening my heart. I won’t push you to do something you’re not comfortable with or don’t want to do. But I’m done ignoring what I want in a relationship to make the other person stay with me. I’m tired of compromising my own needs. I deserve more than that, and it’s taken me a lot of work to get there...”

“I want to-” Sergio stuttered. 

“I know you do,” Raquel smiled sadly. “But I need more than words and empty promises.”

Sergio simply nodded, feeling completely at a loss. He didn’t know how to fix this. No one had ever asked this of him before.

“Take some time,” Raquel offered when she saw his look of defeat. “We’re still playing this game. You still have time to explore and find your perfect match, and if there’s someone in here better matched for the type of relationship you want, I’ll…” she started to say but her voice cracked with emotion, “I’ll support that and back off. I want you to be happy even if it’s not with me.”

_ You make me happy!  _ He wanted to scream, but yet again, he couldn’t find the words to give her the reassurance she needed. He wanted to tell her he’d do everything he could to be who she needed, but he knew that this wasn’t just about what she needed and wanted. She was telling him that  _ he  _ had to want this too in order for it to work. That she wouldn’t try and push him to be who she wants and needs. He had to be willing to do the work too.

After a few more seconds of silence, he grew more determined, “Raquel….”

“Raquel, please go to the diary room….” A voice over the intercom called out.

“Shit,” Raquel sighed, “It’s time for my interview.” 

Before leaving, she took his hand into hers comfortingly. “Use this time to talk to other people. It’s the perfect time since everyone thinks we’re broken up anyway. You know what I want, but now it’s time for you to figure what  _ Sergio  _ wants out of a relationship,” she smiled comfortingly. “I’ll support whatever that is,” she squeezed his hand before running out of the closet.

Alone, Sergio looked down at the hand she’d just been holding as if burned. He wanted her. There was no question, but now he worried that he didn’t know how to give her what she wanted from a relationship. Because in order to do that, he had to understand what he needed. That’s a curveball he didn’t see coming.  _ Shit. _

* * *

A few days later, the group was outside standing in front of Andres who was briefing them on this week’s getaway challenge. Also known as Sergio’s time to glare at Andres for twenty minutes. This week, however, he noticed that Raquel had joined in on shooting daggers at his brother with her eyes. As much as it amused him to have a partner to be annoyed at Andres with, he wished he could talk to her.

She had been avoiding him for the past few days, and it was tearing him apart inside not to have this resolved between them. However, every time he had attempted their signal, she shook her head in denial. He felt stuck. He knew this was her way of giving him space, but the more time that passed, the more he feared he wouldn’t be able to get her back.

“This week,” Andres began once the cameras were rolling, “you’ll be competing for a date in Palma de Mallorca! Two couples will win an afternoon boat ride in Palma Bay followed by dinner in the Old Town. All you have to do is pair up and complete this obstacle course,” he smirked.

Julia quickly grabbed Raquel’s hand to pair up which had taken Raquel aback as they’d never spoken before. Sofia, of course, ran to Sergio. The rest of the pairs included Martin/Alicia, Daniel/Monica, Agata/Helsinki, and Suarez/Marseille.

“The twist? One of you will be blindfolded and the other will be on your partner’s back directing them through the obstacle course. You’ll start by picking up a key to unlock the door ahead of you. You’ll walk through the door and walk over a couple of hurdles and then pick your names up (one at a time) off the ground and put them in the two hearts. The two couples to get both their names in the heart cut-outs first win the dates. Are you ready?!”

Raquel turned to Julia, “I’ll be your eyes.”

“Sounds good,” she smiled and gestured for Raquel to jump on her back. Once all of the couples were in position, including Suarez who was struggling to hold Marseille on his back, Andres yelled, “ _ GO!” _

And as always, what followed was a montage of good TV. Suarez was cursing at Marseille, shouting at him to stay still while he attempted to bend over to pick up the key. They both fell over the first three tries.

Alicia decided Martin would ride on her back which resulted in the two fighting over where to go as he was struggling to give her proper directions. Agata and Helsinki were laughing as he fell over once he bent forward to pick up the key. Even Daniel was struggling to keep Monica on his back.

Raquel and Julia, alternatively, were running like a brand new car. They were the first to unlock the door, moving through the course seamlessly together. Raquel knowing how to bark out orders while Julia had the strength to carry her was proving to be a good partnership.

Sergio and Sofia were moving at a similar pace as Daniel and Monica, the two being second and third to open their doors respectively.

Without any competition, Raquel and Julia were the first to get their names into one of the hearts, screaming in glee that they’d won the date. Raquel was relieved to have some time away from the house and away from Sergio. She was ready to let herself have some fun.

The two watched as Sergio and Daniel kept punching each other’s names out of the remaining heart while the rest of the couples were still struggling to walk over the hurdles.

A lucky break happened for Sergio when Monica slipped off of Daniel, giving him just enough time to pick up his name and put it into the second heart next to Sofia’s, signalling that they had won the second date.

Raquel couldn’t help the groan that escaped her lips.  _ Sergio and Sofia.  _ She and Sergio were both going on the dates but not together. This was the worst possible outcome.

“And the winners of the date are Sergio/Sofia and Raquel/Julia!” Andres smiled. This should be interesting, he smirked. “And for the rest of you, as you know, you have the important job of voting one of these two couples into the Truth Booth. Choose wisely, you only have three more chances to get this right!”

* * *

Later that afternoon, Raquel, Agata and Helsinki were sitting on the main couch chatting aimlessly about random topics. There was still a lot of tension in the house, resulting in people staying in small bubbles with friends they trusted after the disastrous results last week. There was a divide in the house over whether to follow Sergio’s strategy, and, unfortunately, it appeared that more were opposed to it as it didn’t reflect who they wanted to be with.

After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Helsinki shared a random thought while eating a piece of cheese, “Cheese is just a loaf of milk…”

“Excuse me?” Agata laughed over how random Helsinki was. “Does this mean the solid form of a liquid is a loaf?”

“Exactly,” Helsinki smiled while eating another small piece of cheese, “You get it.”

“Does that make an ice cube a loaf of water?” Agata asked.

“You’re both crazy,” Raquel rolled her eyes playfully.

“It makes sense!” Agata declared while Helsinki smiled over how she was humouring his thoughts.

“Does that make a baby a loaf of sperm?” Raquel asked jokingly.

“Too far!” Agata screeched, falling into laughter.

“That’s actually kinda true…” Helsinki contemplated, deep in thought over the image.

“No, it’s not!” Raquel shook her head while pushing Helsinki away from her playfully, laughing over the fact he was taking it seriously. 

Agata stopped and smiled when she saw Raquel laughing, “It’s good to see you laughing again, amiga.”

“I’ve been laughing…” Raquel defended.

“Not since you and Sergio broke up,” the younger woman frowned.

“Can we not talk about him?” Raquel asked, growing more uncomfortable. “What we had is over; there’s no use focusing on it,” she frowned sadly.

“Okay,” Agata agreed, “But you know I’m here if you need to talk?”

“And me too,” Helsinki smiled. “He’s an idiot for letting you go.”

“You all told him to!” Raquel looked at him incredulously, ignoring the most recent conversation she’d had with Sergio. 

“I didn’t think he’d actually agree,” Helsinki frowned. “I’m sorry about that…”

“I know,” Raquel attempted to smile. “All we can do is move forward now.”

“Exactly,” Agata nodded in agreement. “So, what else is a loaf?”

Bread?” Raquel answered as if it were the only logical answer.

“Too boring,” Agata shook her head. “Helsi?”

“Oh, I got it! Glass is a loaf of sand.”

“Is glass really made from sand?” Agata asked curiously.

“Yes?” Helsinki responded yet without confidence. 

**/ /**

While the three friends were laughing in the living room, Sergio was in the kitchen preparing a sandwich for a late lunch. As hard as he was trying to focus on preparing the meat, veggies and cheese, his eyes kept wandering to Raquel who was now laughing with Agata and Helsinki. He could feel his lips curl into a smile as he watched her push Helsinki playfully while the three began to yell at each other.

_ God, he missed her. _

“Hey Sergio,” Julia greeted while opening the fridge to take out a container of cold pasta she prepared last night.

“Hello,” Sergio smiled while concentrating on putting his sandwich together in order to move his focus away from Raquel. Unfortunately, when she laughed again, he couldn’t help but look up at her longingly.

Not missing the look, Julia sighed internally. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she initially thought. “Can we talk?” she asked after putting her plate of pasta in the microwave.

“Of course,” Sergio smiled, putting the finishing touches to his sandwich.

“You and Raquel..”

_ Oh no. Not again. _

“Are you both actually broken up?” she asked. “I know you’re both taking a break…”

_ Shit, shit, shit. _

“Uh,” Sergio attempted to respond while putting together his thoughts. “We’re not currently together,” he settled on. It was, unfortunately, the truth. He wasn’t ready for another person wanting his attention, but he knew he couldn’t lie.

“Okay,” Julia nodded but was interrupted by the microwave beeping. “I like it slightly cold,” she clarified when she realized her pasta had only been in the microwave for a few seconds.

Sergio only nodded as he cleaned up the space around him, putting items away that he’d used for his lunch.

“I think I know where this is going,” Sergio interjected.

“Oh?” Julia perked up.

“And you’re a beautiful woman, but I’m not…”

Julia began to laugh over his assumption. 

“What?” Sergio asked, confused by her reaction.

“You thought I was here to ask you out?” Julia guffawed, gasping for air in an attempt to control her laughter.

“Well…” Sergio adjusted his glasses awkwardly.

“You’re a good looking man, but you’re not really my type,” she clarified.

“Oh,” Sergio nodded, unsure of what to say after putting his foot directly into his mouth.  _ How embarrassing. _

“I wanted to ask you if it was okay if I were to….” she took a deep breath before continuing, “get to know Raquel better?”

_ Oh.  _

_ OH! _

Sergio’s eyes widened, “You’re interested in Raquel?”

“Maybe,” Julia shrugged. “I’d at least like the chance to see if there could be something there, but I didn’t want to do that if you two were still together. Unlike most people in this house, I actually respect your feelings.”

“That’s very kind of you to ask,” Sergio replied, his words coming out slowly as he was processing what she was asking of him. “But umm… I’m not Raquel’s keeper. She can make her own decision about who she wants to get to know.”

“I know,” Julia smiled. “But we are about to go on a double date with you and Sofia tomorrow, and I wanted to make sure you were okay if I…”

_ She wanted to do more than get to know Raquel,  _ Sergio realized.

“Again, she’s free to do whatever she wants,” he told the younger woman while awkwardly adjusting his glasses again. He absolutely hated this game.

“Great,” Julia smiled, “just what I was hoping to hear.”

“Hey Sergio!” Agata yelled from across the room, interrupting the awkward conversation. “What is glass made out of?”

“That’s your cue.” Julia smiled, relieved over how well the conversation went while walking out of the kitchen with her mildly heated pasta.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Sergio began while he watched Julia leave the room, feeling nervous over what she was planning with Raquel. “Essentially, yes but…”

“That’s all we needed to know,” Agata interrupted. “It works. Thanks Sergio!”

Sergio, unable to accept being cut off with such a simple answer, continued, “In general, glass bottles are made from a variety of materials such as silica sand, soda ash, limestone, magnesium oxide, and aluminum oxide…”

“We’re all good,” Agata smiled. “Glass is just a loaf of sand.”

“A loaf of what?” Sergio questioned. “That makes no sense. Glass is…”

“Don’t even try,” Raquel rolled her eyes playfully at Agata.

Agata looked at Helsinki and gestured for him to get up, “We have to go to the beach and get some sand to make glass…”

“That won’t work…” Sergio attempted to deny but the two quickly left the room, leaving him alone with Raquel. 

“So…” Raquel said while playing with a loose thread on the couch.

“So…” Sergio repeated, unsure of what to say with so many cameras on them. For the crew, this was the first time they were about to talk in weeks. It was TV gold.

“Double date tomorrow,” Raquel commended awkwardly while attempting to avoid looking at Sergio.

“Yeah…”

“I think you should focus on getting to know Sofia,” Raquel smiled sadly. “I think she could be your match…”

Sergio simply nodded, thinking back to what she told him a couple of weeks ago.  _ Promise me you won’t fall for Sofia. _ Why was she trying to push him to her? Unfortunately, he couldn’t ask with all of these cameras on them.

“I know what I said before,” Raquel added when she saw his brows scrunch up in confusion. “But the more I think about it, the more I think she’s looking for the type of relationship that’s more independent and separate. It may be…”

“Be what?” Sergio asked, his voice just above a whisper and thick with emotion.

“What you’re looking for…” she finished her thought, looking away from him in fear of breaking down. 

Sergio, ready to correct her with how she was the only person he wanted, looked at the crew surrounding them who seemed to be getting even closer. Fuck their lack of privacy.

He simply shrugged. “And I guess I could say the same about you and Julia,” he added, trying to eliminate the bitterness in his tone but failing miserably.

“Maybe..” she responded, knowing she couldn’t say much more with the cameras.

Sergio, unable to stomach this conversation anymore, “I’m just going to…” he gestured towards the pool.

“Yeah…” Raquel nodded. “See you later.”

And with that, Sergio all but ran out of the room. 

“Shit,” Raquel sighed while running her and through her hair in frustration. What was she doing?

* * *

Raquel was currently sitting on the front deck of a large boat next to Julia while doing her best to keep her eyes off of Sergio and Sofia. The two appeared to be in deep discussion as they were touring around Palma Bay.

The scenery was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the water was clear…. This was paradise and yet all Raquel could think about was how she tried to push Sergio towards Sofia yesterday. She wasn’t sure why she said it. She could feel her own insecurities invading all of her senses after so many years of getting it so wrong in relationships. She wanted to believe Sergio was different. That her feelings for him were special and that their connection was unlike any of her past relationships. But not telling her about Andres was a red flag, and she promised herself (and her psychologist) that she’d stop ignoring small red flags in relationships. That she’d be more clear about what she expected and not afraid to voice her needs.

But what if she ruined the best thing to happen to her in years because of her own fears? What if he actually did find what he wanted in Sofia?  _ You’re an idiot, Raquel. _

“Hey,” Julia smiled at Raquel to pull her attention away from the other couple on the boat. “They’re about to stop the boat so we can go swimming. What do you say?” she asked while putting off her summer dress to reveal a black bikini.

Raquel, feeling terrible she’d forgotten she was on her own date for a moment, offered a small smile and removed her own dress in response. Julia’s eyes widened when she saw Raquel reveal a tiny red bikini – a strapless top that just covered her breasts and cheeky bottoms that left a little to the imagination. Oh boy, was she lucky to be on this date.

What she didn’t see was Sergio, from the other side of the boat, nearly choking in his water when Raquel took off her dress. 

“Sergio!” Sofia yelled. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes, you were talking about the dog you rescued from this island years ago…” he replied while his eyes stayed on Raquel’s body. She was more alluring than every painting in the Louvre.

Sofia, growing more and more annoyed by his overt panting over Raquel’s body, removed her own shorts and tank top to reveal a tiny white bikini that was barely containing her breasts. Two could play at this game, she thought.

“Can you put some sunscreen on my back?” she asked while taking a large tube out of her bag.

Sergio turned to look at her in the bikini she was nearly spilling out of and cleared his throat. “What?”

“I don’t want my back to burn, and I can’t reach. I could really use the help,” she pouted flirtatiously, relieved to finally have his eyes on her. 

Sergio took the tube from her hand and squeezed some of the liquid on his hands. He tried hard to avoid the sigh of frustration that wanted to leave his body. He absolutely hated this, but with three cameras on him, he knew denying her request wasn’t an option. As she turned her body around so that her back was facing him, Sergio looked over at Raquel again who he saw was now looking in their direction as if she was studying his every move. 

Grimacing, Sergio decided to get this over with and put some of the liquid on his fingertips and awkwardly placed them on her back. He only rubbed the white substance with the tips of his fingers and moved as quickly as he could to get this over with. Every motion made him feel more and more tense. This felt wrong.

His eyes met Raquel’s who was watching his every move, and he could see how hurt she looked from behind her sunglasses. He vowed that this was the last date he’d go on during this game. It was absolute torture to have to pretend to enjoy spending time with one person when the woman he wanted more than anything had to watch.

“All done,” Sergio said after only a few seconds of coating the liquid on her back and behind her arms. “You should be able to reach the rest,” he said while walking away from her to clean off his hands.

“Thanks Sergio,” she smirked, loving how affected he looked by touching her. “Do you want me to do your back now?”

“No!” he coughed. “I’m good.”

“Are you sure? You have to take off your shirt to swim…” she tried again.

Unbeknownst to both Sergio and Sofia, Raquel walked up to the couple with her own bottle of sunscreen, “She’s right, Sergio,” she shrugged.

Sergio turned his head to see Raquel gesturing for him to take off his shirt. “I brought SPF 50…”

Sergio, feeling like he was stuck, couldn’t deny Raquel even if she was only offering out of jealousy. As much as he wanted to be the bigger person and stop this, he wanted her hands all over his back even more. So, he nodded while removing his shirt. 

“Do you mind, Sofia?” She asked while moving the younger woman so she could get behind Sergio and squirt some of the cooling liquid on Sergio’s back.

“He’s my date!” Sofia huffed while Raquel massaged his back, smirking at her the entire time.

“I know, I’m just helping a friend out,” Raquel shrugged innocently while rubbing the sunscreen up and down his back. “The sun is really hot today.”

Sergio’s eyes closed in an effort to control the heat he felt building every time her hands rubbed his back softly. The sun had nothing on the heat that radiated from Raquel Murillo’s touch.

“All done,” she smiled victoriously at Sofia who was glaring at the entire display. “See you both in the water,” she smirked while walking away and jumping off the boat to join Julia.

“How you ever dated that woman, I’ll never understand,” Sofia shook her head in disgust.

“Why’s that?” Sergio asked, growing more and more irritated with her attitude towards Raquel.

“Do you not care about how possessive she was over you when you’re not even together? You deserve better than that.”

Sergio simply looked away, refusing to give her anything to work with and ran towards the edge of the boat to jump into the water after Raquel and Julia. His heart sank when he saw the two women laughing together.

“I’m getting on a jet ski!” Julia smiled when one of the crew brought the water vehicle closer to her. “Do you want to join me, Raquel?”

“You go head,” she smiled and laughed as her new friend got onto and drove away with such power.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity of being alone, Sergio swam to Raquel and discreetly took her hand in his under the water. “You’re evil,” he smiled.

“For not wanting your back to get burned?” She asked innocently.

Sergio shook his head, laughing.

“Your date is staring,” Raquel pulled back and started to move away when she felt Sofia’s glaring stare on her, but he took her hand again to stop her.

“We need to talk…”

“Not here,” Raquel shook her head and tried to pull away again, but his grip on her hand tightened to halt her movement.

“I miss you…” he whispered low enough so that the cameras couldn’t pick up on it.

“Sergio…” she whined, hating the timing of this and the fact they were surrounded by cameras.

“What? You don’t miss me?”

“You know I do,” she frowned. “But we’re here on separate dates. As much as I can’t stand that woman, you should give her a chance. I promise not to get jealous again...”

“And you with Julia?” Sergio asked bitterly, feeling his own jealousy overtake his rational mind.

She threaded her fingers with his under the water, “I barely know Julia. We’re just having fun…. And you already know what I want,” she reminded him while squeezing his hand but then reluctantly pulled away when she heard a loud splash in the water.  _ Sofia.  _ “Take this time to figure out what you need,” she smiled sadly and swam away from him as Sofia swam closer.

“Raquel! Join me! This is so cool!” Julia yelled while driving closer to her. Sergio watched as Raquel laughed when Julia helped pull her on the seat behind her before the two drove off, leaving Sergio even more confused than before. Did she really think he didn’t know what he wanted?

“There you are!” Sofia smiled when she reached him. “There’s a really cool cave not too far from here if you want to join me.”

“Lead the way,” Sergio sighed, completely resigned as he heard Raquel and Julia screaming with laughter in the distance when she flipped the jet ski. 

* * *

Later that evening, the two couples were set up with their own tables in two different rooms of the restaurant, so that each could be filmed completely separately. This was the moment the show urged the couples to really get to know each other.

Sergio, being a gentleman, pulled out a chair for Sofia who was dressed in all white and her medium length blond hair curled to perfection. Sergio had to admit that she looked beautiful, but he felt absolutely nothing while he was with her. No butterflies, nerves, desire – his only need was to look at his watch and count down the minutes until this was over.

And what made it even worse was that he knew it was likely the two of them who would be voted in the Truth Booth, and if they were a perfect match, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk to Raquel before the show ends.

“You look nice,” Sofia complimented while filling their glasses with Chardonnay.

“You too,” Sergio smiled politely and thanked her for the wine.

“To our second date,” she held up her glass to cheers with his. “It’s already better than the first one.”

Sergio’s shoulders slumped forward because he remembered on their first date, his mind was only on Raquel. And here they were again, his mind only on the woman on the other side of that wall.

“We’re probably going to be voted into the Truth Booth tonight. There’s a chance we’re a match,” Sofia continued on in hopes of getting this man, a locked fortress, to finally open up to her.

“It’s a possibility…” Sergio agreed while taking a sip of wine to mask the growing tension he was feeling over where she was trying to take this discussion.

“Do you want to know why I think we’re a perfect match?” She asked, somewhat flirtatiously, while eating an olive.

He wanted to say no, but when the camera operator got closer, he knew he had no choice but to humour her, “Sure.”

“We’re both independent. You live your life and I live mine. We’d spend time together only when it’s convenient. I’m not looking for someone to be in my space all the time, and I don’t think you are either,” she admitted. “Have you ever been in a relationship where you’ve lived with the other person?”

“Uh.. no,” Sergio admitted. 

“Exactly, because you like your independence. I tried living with a past girlfriend, and it destroyed our relationship. We were both very particular about our space and our time, and we realized that trying to combine it didn’t work for us. In the end, she wanted me to compromise too much and I wasn’t willing to do that for her, so we ended the relationship.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sergio cleared his throat awkwardly.

“It was for the best. And, out of everyone in this game, you’re the only person who also needs a relationship that still gives you your independence. I don’t need to know your family, and you don’t have to know mine…”

“Do you not find that a bit cold?” Sergio asked, slowly realizing that this was the type of relationship he only accepted in the past, but it suddenly felt so cold and distant. With Raquel, he could see her bringing colour into his life. Scowling when Andres said something sexist and then laughing with him over how crazy his brother’s friends were. He could imagine her being his ally when spending countless hours with Andres’ new woman of the month. 

“No,” she denied. “We all know what works for us and what we need. You’re successful at what you do, and I’m the same. It only makes sense that we keep that separate. Besides, think about how hot the sex would be if we’re not constantly in each other’s space and annoying each other.”

Sergio took a large sip of wine at her last statement. He didn’t want to think about that. “I think you have characterized me incorrectly,” he finally responded honestly.

“Oh?” She asked, amused by his statement.

“I’ve never looked for companionship in any form. And any relationship I’ve been in was something of convenience at the time or being pressured by people in my life to not be single…” 

“Is that what Raquel is?” she smirked.

Sergio frowned but stopped when the waiter presented their food for the evening and waited until they were alone again. Well, as alone as you can be with three cameras pointed at your face. “No, Raquel is not. She’s the first person to help me realize that I want more than a life of solitude or a transactional relationship. Maybe a few months ago, I would have been more open to the type of relationship you want, but that doesn’t sound appealing anymore.”

“Okay,” Sofia frowned while taking a bite of her salmon. “How can you know that though? You’re both living in a bubble right now. Can you really imagine opening your life to her after all of this? Is that really what you want?”

**//**

“Today was fun,” Julia smiled as she and Raquel took their seats. “Wine?”

“Please,” Raquel smiled and moved the plate of olives to the centre of the table after taking one for herself while Julia poured them both a glass of red. “And it was. I forgot how much fun it is to jet ski.”

“I’m sorry I tipped us over three times,” Julia laughed sheepishly.

“You drive like I do,” Raquel reassured her. “The crew told me I wasn’t allowed to drive again on the show after what happened with the ATVs.”

“What happened?” Julia smiled, completely enamoured by the woman sitting across from her who was wearing a red strapless dress with her hair up in a french twist. 

“I took a corner too fast and was lectured on driving recklessly in the mountains. I’m a cop for fucks sake, I know what I’m doing.”

Julia laughed, “I think I’m about to get the same lecture.”

“I had fun though,” Raquel smiled reassuringly. “What’s the fun in a jet ski if you don’t fly off a few times?”

“Exactly! I love how we seem to understand each other,” Julia grinned while taking a sip of her wine.

Raquel smiled at that.

“Why has it taken us this long to really talk?” Julia asked. 

“I don’t know,” Raquel shrugged. “I guess that’s what happens when you’re in a house with 15 other people… but I’m glad we’re talking now.”

“Me too,” Julia agreed. “I have a confession.”

“Oh?”

“I hated you for weeks.”

“What?!” Raquel nearly choked on the olive in her mouth.

“I spent a lot of time with Sofia in the first few weeks, and she was constantly talking about how fake you were and how you were playing with Sergio’s feelings. And I stupidly believed her. I’m sorry…”

“What changed?” Raquel asked.

“The way you acted after you and Sergio broke up. You didn’t create drama, you weren’t using it for sympathy, and you were still looking out for others. I realized that the version of you I hated didn’t exist.”

“I’m glad that it changed for you.”

“I was also jealous because for a while I stupidly thought Suarez was my match, but he was obsessed with you…”

“Suarez,” Raquel rolled her eyes.

‘He’s the worst,” Julia looked away.

“Did he do something to you?” Raquel asked, concerned when she noticed the younger woman’s frown.

“He…” she started slowly, “We were fooling around one night, and he took my clothes off. I was really into it that I forgot to warn him about my scars from the surgery last year, and he got really disgusted…”

“Oh Julia,” Raquel took her hand in hers from across the table. “He’s a jerk.”

“He’s not the first to feel that way. It’s common,” she began to tear up. “I guess I should be thankful he didn’t do something more physical…”

“Has that...?”

When Julia nodded, Raquel got out of her seat and went to hug the younger woman. While she understood the pain she felt on one level, she knew she’d never fully understand the experiences of trans men and women. “I’m so sorry,” Raquel whispered while holding her closer and rubbing her back comfortingly.

“This game is the first time I have felt safe to be me, you know? Everyone knew the truth from the beginning, and I didn’t need to have that conversation with someone I was interested in, but with Suarez… he made me feel like I was disgusting.”

“You’re not,” Raquel soothed. “You’re so beautiful. Inside and out. Scars and all. And even though it’s taken us seven weeks to talk, I’m glad we’re getting to know each other now.”

“Me too,” Julia smiled through tears, relieved to have found someone like Raquel in this game. “I should have listened when everyone was telling me how amazing you are.”

“Or you could just come and talk to me and form your own opinion,” Raquel rubbed her back one last time and went back to her seat when she saw their dinner about to be served.

“This may seem a bit forward...” Julia began after a couple of minutes of silence as they ate their dinner. “You and Sergio are…”

“Complicated,” Raquel filled in honestly.

“I have another confession,” Julia sighed, reluctant to bring this up but wanted to talk to her before Sergio did.

“If this is also about hating me…”

“No,” Julia chucked. “The opposite. I asked Sergio if he’d be okay if I tried to get to know you better.”

“And what did he say?” Raquel asked curiously, hating herself for needing to know the answer.

“That he’s not your keeper and you can make your own decisions,” Julia revealed.

“Oh,” Raquel frowned. One one hand, she was glad he wasn’t possessive, but there was another part of her that wished he’d answered it differently.

“So I guess, I was wondering… do I have a chance with you?” She asked hopefully, ignoring Raquel’s reaction to her previous statement.

Raquel could feel the wind nearly knocked out of her over the question. She didn’t see this coming. She had a few people flirt with her in this game but Julia was one of the few to want something deeper with her, and she could tell from their short time together that they were well matched, but…

“I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but,” Raquel looked down at her plate, hating that this was how she was going to say this out loud for the first time, but Julia deserved the truth, “I’m in love with Sergio.”

“I had a feeling that may be the case, but I was hopeful,” Julia smiled in an attempt to cut the tension between them.

“And I don’t know if he feels the same way, but you deserve more than me coming to you because I’m feeling hurt right now. You deserve someone who will love everything about who you are, and it may not be something you find in this game, but I know you’ll meet that person one day. You’re so special. You’re fun, kind and so beautiful. You’ll find them.”

“Thank you, Raquel,” Julia teared up. “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.”

“And I hope we can still be friends?” Raquel asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Julia assured her. “I would love that.”

“Me too,” Raquel grinned, relieved that Julia was taking this so well.

“For what it’s worth, when I asked Sergio about you, he was struggling to say the right thing. His words said you were free but his eyes said ‘get away from my woman’’, Julia revealed in an attempt to lighten her new friend’s spirit.

Raquel simply shrugged and changed the subject back to the jet skis. She had already said too much in front of the cameras about Sergio.

* * *

The two couples were seated behind the couch as Andres entered the room to announce that it was time to reveal the vote for this week’s Truth Booth to the whole group.

Raquel knew that there was a possibility that Sofia could be Sergio’s perfect match based on the data. If the house was smart, they would be voted into the Truth Booth to reveal whether Sergio’s plan was correct, but she hated the idea that they could be a match. It would further confirm that Sofia could offer him the type of relationship he wanted.

“Welcome to your seventh Truth Booth, everyone!” Andres smiled while walking into the room. “How were the dates?”

“Fantastic,” Julia grinned. “Raquel and I really got along, and I think I found a lifelong friend tonight.”

Sergio perked up at the word friend.

“Only friend? Nothing romantic?” Andres prodded.

“No romance,” Raquel smiled in confirmation. “The beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Sergio nearly sighed in relief as he had grown more and more nervous by how well they got along on the car ride back to the house.

“And Sergio and Sofia. This was your second date. Any sparks this time?”

“Maybe,” Sofia answered coyly while Sergio rolled his eyes. “Sergio and I want the same things out of a relationship… and I’m pretty sure we’re a perfect match.”

“Well, that’s a good segue. Let’s see who you all voted into the Truth Booth this week,” Andres smiled.

After a few seconds, Sergio and Sofia’s photos appeared on the screen. “Looks like you’ll both get your answer tonight,” Andres smirked at the couple.

“It was so much fun living here,” Sofia announced to the group confidently, “But it’s time for my perfect match and I get out of here,” she smirked. Sergio, on the other hand, was filled with dread. What if they were a match? How would Raquel react? This had the potential to be the worst moment on this show for him. 

Sofia and Sergio walked along the path to the booth together. Neither were touching each other or leaning on the other for support when they walked into the booth and took their position in front of the TV screen. It was clear there was no physical connection between the two.

“Are you okay?” Julia asked Raquel who was shielding her face with her hands.

“Yeah…” she lied.

“Raquel…”

“Of all the people in here, I really hope  _ she  _ isn’t his match,” Raquel admitted, hating being confronted with one of her worst fears in this game – losing Sergio before they had the opportunity to really talk. Leaving before she could tell him how she felt. Her heart broke over the idea of leaving things so unsettled between them.

“Are you ready?” Sofia asked Sergio with a large grin, assuming this result was about to go her way.

“We don’t really have a choice, do we?” Sergio shrugged almost robotically. He wanted to get this over with so he could run to Raquel and assure her that no matter what happened, they would get through it.

The camera operator started a countdown.

3

2

1

_ NO MATCH _

Sergio sighed in relief. He knew this would be the outcome based on his strategy, but he’d never been so thankful for being right in his life.

“What?!” Sofia screeched. “That’s not possible!! I was so sure…”

The rest of the house groaned over the results – another  _ no match,  _ especially after being convinced by Sofia for weeks that they would get their third confirmed match if she and Sergio went into the Truth Booth together.

Raquel, overwhelmed with emotion – the relief over Sergio staying in the game and frustration over the way the show pushed Sofia onto Sergio – ran out of the room towards the beach to avoid suffocating. She needed to be alone.

When Sergio and Sofia walked back into the living room area, everyone either shrugged or was apologetic to Sofia that the match-up didn’t go her way.

“Well, there may be no reason to celebrate tonight, but let’s get drunk anyway,” Agata yelled while getting a bottle of whiskey from the counter and a bunch of shot glasses from the cupboard. Once everyone had their glasses, “I propose a toast. To sucking at this game!” Agata cheered jokingly. 

“To sucking at this game!” The rest joined with the exception of Sergio who was scanning the room for Raquel. When his eyes landed on her silhouette outside and near the beach, he quietly slipped out while Agata turned up the music to get yet another party started. 

Fortunately for Sergio, all of the cameras seemed to be focused on the party rather than on him or Raquel – the perfect opportunity to finally talk after a grueling few days.

* * *

Raquel moved to sit on the daybed, listening to the sounds of the waves in the darkness and seeking comfort in it after a tumultuous couple of days. If she focused hard enough, it looked like she could see the glow of the jellyfish in the ocean. Life would be so much simpler as a jellyfish, Raquel thought - no heart, brain, eyes. You can sting anything that gets too close. You can produce your own light in the darkness. It seemed so much easier and freer than the complex life of a human that was filled with emotion, the search purpose and the desire to love and be loved. In her next life, she hoped she’d come back as a jellyfish.

“Martin.”

“Fuck, Sergio, you have to stop scaring me like that….” Raquel gasped over the sudden sound of his voice while she was lost in the melody of the waves, wind rustling through the trees and crickets.

“I also know Martin. He’s a close friend of my brother’s who I’m sure was brought on this show to stir the pot a few times,” Sergio confessed in an effort to clear up the last secret between them.

“Oh,” Raquel took a deep breath, attempting to grasp what he was trying to tell her.

“It is true that I lost a bet with Andres. He rigged it so I would have to go on his show. In his words, I needed to lighten up and enjoy life,” Sergio continued. “And, at first, I hated him for it. I thought he was messing with me…”

“Right…” Raquel nodded, unsure of how to respond to his confession.

“But then I met you,” Sergio revealed, his lips curving into a smile.

Raquel turned her body towards his to see him standing in the darkness, only the light from the house illuminating him.

“I’m glad he forced me to be on this show because as much as it pains me to admit it, he was right. I wasn’t happy. I was chained to my own routine, living a life in black and white.”

Raquel, still unable to form any coherent words, simply nodded in understanding. He was doing what she asked….

“You’ve shown me what colour looks like. You’re like a colourful acrylic paint pour on my white dull canvas, giving my life new meaning. New patterns. And with every new angle, changing shape and colour. Always surprising me with your beauty, your depth and your heart.”

“Sergio…” Raquel breathed as tears began to form in her eyes over the poetry of his words. “You do know an acrylic pour is messy, right?”

Sergio couldn’t help but laugh, the convulsions causing tears to form in his eyes. “When I was with Sofia tonight, she offered me everything I thought I once wanted. I always put relationships in different compartments. I have my brother in one, my colleagues in one and if I were to meet a partner one day, they’d be in another. All separate and only opened when needed. I could close them all and enjoy my solitude without a second thought. No mess.”

“Okay…” Raquel breathed, struggling not to point out how sad that sounded.

“But I don’t want that. For years, I had convinced myself that was what I needed, but that’s not living. With you, I want to throw away the whole dresser. I just want to be with you. It may take some work, and I hope you’ll be patient with me… but I want to bring you into my world. Because ... I love you, Raquel. I’m in love with you.”

Raquel stood up from the daybed and walked closer to the man who said everything she yearned to hear. And he wasn't only saying what he thought she wanted to hear but he also wanted those things too. With her.  _ Wow... _

“Tonight, Julia had asked me for a chance,” Raquel began.

Sergio tensed, worried that this was her way of saying that she didn’t feel the same way. He didn’t think of the small possibility that she may turn him down, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive the heartbreak if she did. “She… uh.. she did?”

“Yeah,” Raquel smiled briefly, “And she could, on paper, be everything I’ve been asking for…”

“Oh…” Sergio heard the sound of a stick cracking in the distance, the cacophony representing the way his heart currently felt.

“But I told her I’m in love with you,” Raquel finally revealed, grinning through her own tears.

“You what?” Sergio asked, she really liked to play with his emotions...

“I love you too, Sergio,” Raquel confessed, her voice thick with emotion. Her feelings for Sergio both terrified and filled her joy. She knew this was the beginning of something significant, and she was ready to take this step with him. 

“You scared me for a minute,” Sergio admitted, holding onto his chest in hopes of bringing his heart rate down.

“I had to get back at you for scaring me earlier,” Raquel shrugged unapologetically yet playfully.

Sergio shook his head, holding back another laugh. He loved her playful side. Who was he kidding, he loved _all_ of her.

Without another word, Sergio took a few steps towards her and kissed her with everything he’d been feeling over the past few days. The pain, yearning and, most of all, love for the woman in his arms. The final walls he’d been hiding behind were finally dismantled. There was no longer anything holding them back from each other.

“Sergio, what if someone sees us?” Raquel asked in between kisses, her hands running up his back to the nape of his neck.

“I don’t care,” Sergio whispered, kissing her once again and getting lost in her taste of mango and wine. “I missed you…”

“I missed you too,” she grinned into his lips. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

Sergio lifted her off the ground and brought her to the daybed, “No more talking,” he whispered hoarsely, his voice filled with desire. 

“Show me how much you love me,” Raquel whispered seductively, grinning while pulling him on top of her, relieved not only to have him back but to finally be confident they were moving on the same path together. .

What they both missed, however, was that the stick cracking in the distance wasn’t the sound of Sergio’s heart but rather a body hiding behind one of the bushes, witnessing their entire encounter.

**[cheesy voiceover]** _Awww, Raquel and Sergio are officially in loooovvveee!! But who was hiding in the bushes??! Where was Alicia this week? Is she ever going to admit she wants Agata? Coming up in the final three chapters!_


	15. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Canadian Thanksgiving all!! As a thank for you all of your amazing support of this story, I have written a BONUS chapter of Raquel and Sergio's night after their first I love you. I'm so thankful for everyone who had read, left kudos, comments, tweets, messages, made art/videos. This story has been my own personal escape, and the fact that it's become that for others means more to me than I can ever say in words. Today, I'm thankful for ALL of you. And I hope you enjoy this special chapter focused on our favourite couple.
> 
> If fluff and smut isn't your thing, the next chapter will be back to the chaos of the game, I promise. I have bumped the story to 18 chapters, so there are still three chapters focused on the game to go. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. It was definitely a challenge to write, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

_ “Tonight, Julia had asked me for a chance,” Raquel began. _

_ Sergio tensed, worried that this was her way of saying that she didn’t feel the same way. He didn’t think of the small possibility that she may turn him down, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive the heartbreak if she did. “She… uh.. she did?” _

_ “Yeah,” Raquel smiled briefly, “And she could, on paper, be everything I’ve been asking for…” _

_ “Oh…” Sergio heard the sound of a stick cracking in the distance, the cacophony representing the way his heart currently felt. _

_ “But I told her I’m in love with you,” Raquel finally revealed, grinning through her own tears. _

_ “You what?” Sergio asked, she really liked to play with his emotions… _

_ “I love you too, Sergio,” Raquel confessed, her voice thick with emotion. _

Andres watched his brother declare his love to another person for the first time in utter shock. He had to hold back a cheer when he heard Raquel return his affection. This was really happening.

He had wanted to use this opportunity to talk to Sergio after how tense they left things last week; however, now all he could do was stand completely still while his brother pulled Raquel into a kiss with a lone tear running down his cheek.

He never thought he’d see this moment. His younger brother... in love. After years of trying to set him up on dates and encouraging him to pursue romantic love, his brother found someone who could break down the barbed wire gate around his heart.

_ Finally.  _

As he slowly began to back away, Antoñanzas, one of the show’s producers ran up behind him with a camera quickly turning it on to capture this moment for the show.

“No,” Andres stopped the younger man.

“What?” He asked while positioning himself to capture the kissing couple who had just moved to the daybed. 

“Let them have this moment in privacy,” he quickly explained while covering the lens with his hand.

“But they haven’t been together in weeks and now…” Antoñanzas said while gesturing to the couple who were completely oblivious to them. “This is  _ the  _ moment we’ve all been waiting for…”

“Not everything needs to be on TV…”

“How could you say that? You know this is THE shot of the week. This is our promo shot, the episode teaser…”

“No, this is my brother in love for the first time,” Andres smiled softly, his eyes softening as he watched the couple laughing together. “He’s happy.”

“But…”

“This is bigger than a TV show, Antoñanzas. Let’s give them tonight. They’ll slip up in the house after this. They won’t be able to hide their feelings, and you can capture that moment, but please… let my brother enjoy the first time he tells a woman he loves her.”

Antoñanzas, taking a moment to really look at the couple for the first time, saw the love illuminating from them when they stopped kissing to smile at each other. “We were never here,” he conceded. “We went home right after the Truth Booth ceremony and they went to bed.”

“You’re a good man, Antoñanzas,” Andres smiled gratefully.

“Is this really the first time he’s been in love?”

“It is,” he nodded. “I never thought I’d see the day…”

“Wow…”

“He’s been so focused on his work and trying to clear our dad’s name that he forgot to enjoy life…”

“What do you think changed?”

Andres looked at the couple one last time who were snuggled together on the daybed. “I wish I could say it was because of me and how I finally encouraged him to slow down for the first time by coming on this show, but I think he simply met the woman of his dreams. His soulmate.”

“ _ You  _ believe in soulmates?” the younger producer questioned skeptically.

“Of course, Antoñanzas, I’m a romantic,” he grinned after taking one last look at the couple and turning around to walk back into the house. “And now, so is my brother.”

* * *

“So, I take it your date with Sofia wasn’t as amazing as she claimed?” Raquel smiled while snuggling closer to him on the daybed, content to be back in his arms after weeks apart.

“No,” Sergio frowned. “She tried to offer me what she thought I wanted…”

“And what was that exactly?” Raquel arched her head up to meet his eyes in the darkness, her curiosity getting the best of her.

“Separate lives,” Sergio revealed. 

“Huh…” Raquel nodded aimlessly unsure of how to respond. “That’s…”

“Not what I want,” Sergio whispered while playing with a few strands of her hair.. 

“Good,” Raquel sighed in relief.

“I only want you,” he grinned reassuringly while pushing her on her back to position himself on top of her, kissing her lightly on the lips. 

Raquel beamed at his declaration, kissing him again. This time, letting her lips linger on his for a few extra seconds, “Me too.”

“Good,” he repeated her earlier response, breathing into her mouth, their lips only a centimetre apart. 

Raquel could feel the familiar tingle through her stomach with his warm breath on her lips, and his nose softy gliding across her cheek. She loved him. She could say it freely in her mind, to him, to others… 

While lost in thought, Sergio’s tongue slid along her bottom lip, refocusing her mind on how he tasted of white wine and a smidge of something sweet she couldn’t identify. She opened her lips, meeting his tongue in their familiar dance, yet somehow it felt different. The feeling of his beard was the same, the texture of his tongue and the way it slid over hers followed the pattern they’d somehow established together, but every touch felt like  _ more _ . She could feel the tingles of love in her chest. The butterflies in her stomach. And her growing heat while his body moved over hers slowly as they kissed in the moonlight.

Was it the setting? Was it her feelings? Perhaps it was both, but all Raquel knew as she ran her hands through his hair as he kissed her slowly and deliberately, that this moment was special. This would be the moment she’d think back on years from now when Paula asks her what it means to be in love.

It was  _ this  _ feeling.

Sergio began to kiss down her neck, finding the spot that always elicited a soft squeak from her, and this time, was even more delighted to hear a soft whimper when he licked around the spot he knew set her off.

His lips travelled to her chest leaving a trail of kisses over every inch of exposed skin, yearning to show her just how deeply he felt. Growing frustrated by the fabric of her dress, he lightly gestured for her to sit up so he could unzip it and, with her help, remove the constricting pierce of fabric, leaving her in red silk panties.

“No bra?” he gasped as he tossed the garment on the grass.

“Built into the dress,” She replied while his head moved back to her chest to continue kissing every inch of her.

Raquel looked down at the man who was worshipping her like she was the most important thing in the world. No one had ever taken the time to show her just how deeply they felt for her. So many of her past encounters had been rushed, lazy, and even the good ones had been passionate but consumed only by lust. This was the product of love. The sensuality of Sergio’s touch left her skin tingling and when his tongue traced around the curve of her breast, she could feel goosebumps.

She had asked Sergio the first night they met if he’d ever been in love and when he hesitated, she told him he’d know if he had.

But had  _ she _ ? She thought she’d been in love a few times. Her first college girlfriend, her boyfriend during the academy, and then her ex husband. Yet none of them felt like this. 

As Sergio’s tongue circled her nipple, he felt her body begin to convulse in a way that was different from how she typically responded to pleasure. He looked up to see tears streaming down her face and quickly stopped.

“Raquel,” he whispered while moving up to wipe a tear from her left cheek. “What’s going on? Did I do something to trigger…” he thought, horrified that he’d perhaps triggered her past trauma with his touch.

“No no,” she assured him while attempting to smile as the tears began to fall more rapidly. “I’m happy,” she cried.

“But you’re crying…” Sergio countered, confused over the way she was sobbing nearly naked under him.

“I haven’t been happy in so long,” she cried. “I- umm I’ve been trying to hold it together for a long time. Taking care of my mom, being a mother, the demands of my job, the way Alberto completely...” she started but couldn’t allow herself to finish that thought.

Sergio, still unsure of how to respond, simply hugged her to him as she continued to cry.

“I forgot about my own happiness....” she continued to cry as he held her close. “I’m so sorry, Sergio. I know me sobbing and all of this snot coming out of my nose is not the sexiest thing…” she attempted to laugh.

Sergio shook his head, kissing both of her wet cheeks. “I wasn’t happy either…” he whispered, understanding why she was getting so emotional and could feel his own tears filling his eyes. “I’ve spent so many years caring about my dad’s case, what trouble my brother was getting into, and being a good professor that I also forgot about my own happiness.”

“I’m not normally this sappy, but I feel like the luckiest woman right now...here with you,” Raquel smiled while kissing his cheeks that were now drenched with his own tears. 

“I’m the lucky one,” Sergio rubbed his nose over hers. “Finding you has been liking finding that piece of myself I didn’t know I was missing.”

“I love you,” she breathed out while attempting to get control of her emotions. “These past few weeks with you have been the happiest for me in a really long time.”

Sergio, pressing his forehead on hers, whispered, “Me too,” while snuggling her body closer to his. “We don’t have to do anything tonight. I’m happy to simply be with you…”

“No,” she quickly denied. “I want this. I don’t know what came over me… while you were kissing me, all I could think about was how I’ve never felt so loved in my life. I’m not normally one to talk about my feelings, so it all came bursting out at the worst time. I’m so sorry, Sergio.”

“Never apologize for letting out your emotions with me,” Sergio reassured, his hand lost in her hair he caressed her scalp comfortingly. “Everything you’re feeling right now, I feel it too. And I’m also not good at talking about how I feel, but with you, it feels different.”

“It does,” Raquel quickly agreed, looking into his eyes lovingly. “Ok, enough of this sappy shit. You can go back to kissing my breasts now. I promise I’m done crying.”

Sergio, laughing in response, left a soft kiss on her lips before returning to her breasts. His tongue immediately going back to work on her left nipple, relieved to only hear her sighs as he licked and sucked her breasts.

When they heard a loud crash from the house, they both stopped, remembering that anyone could walk out at any minute.

“What happened?” Raquel asked breathily. 

Sergio moved to look behind the daybed, “Looks like Suarez dropped the pitcher of sangria and Alicia is yelling at him.”

“Is anyone about to come outside?”

Sergio looked again to see the crew cleaning up the mess and what looked like a producer telling the drunken contestants to go to bed as he pointed to the stairs. “No, it looks like they are all being sent to bed.”

“Perfect,” Raquel breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that they’d be interrupted again just as they had been in the shower – the last time they’d been together. Yes, she was still bitter. “Now, get back to work. We have 10 days to make up for,” she instructed.

“10?” Sergio smirked, repositioning his body partly over hers. His mouth went back to her breast, not saying another word as he contemplated her proposition. As he licked around her nipple, his hand moved over her panties, lightly massaging her clit through the thin material. 

“Sergio…” she gasped when he pressed two fingers harder, moving two fingers in a circular motion on the wet spot on her panties while his tongue circled her nipple. “What are you-”

He sensed she was getting closer, and lightly grazed her nipple with his teeth while rubbing her even harder, the friction of the fabric over her clit driving her absolutely crazy.

“Sergio!” she gasped, succumbing to the feeling of her body completely unravelling after only a minute of him rubbing her with the same energy as someone trying to warm up their hands on the coldest day.

“That’s one,” he grinned as she attempted to catch her breath.

“I didn’t mean literally 10 orgasms….” she looked at him incredulously. 

“Now, it’s nine,” he smirked, ignoring her protest as he pulled down her drenched underwear and discarded them on the ground.

Shaking her head in amusement and unconvinced he’d be able to reach such a ridiculous goal in one night, Raquel looked down at her naked body next to his fully clothed one. “Why am I the only one who’s naked?” She demanded while she unbuttoned his dress shirt.

Once they both slid the cotton fabric from his torso, Sergio kissed Raquel. Their tongues, again, moving in their familiar sensual dual. Both were breathing heavily into each other’s mouths in an effort to prolong the hunger they felt as their kisses got deeper, messier.

When Sergio noticed they were about to move too fast, he pulled away slightly and kissed her lips lightly in an effort to slow the pace. Every kiss and touch began to follow the sounds of the waves which were guiding a new more sensual tempo. As the waves fell, his tongue slid over hers while his right hand played with her hair and the left travelled down her body, leaving soft feather-like caresses on her skin. 

“Sergio,” she whispered in frustration at the sudden change in pace. 

In response, he smirked and kissed her cheek, moving down her body to leave kisses all along her neck and chest, once again, returning to his initial plan not to leave any part of her perfect body unkissed or touched.

“You know much much I hate being teased,” she warned him in yet another attempt for him to quicken his pace. 

Sergio, however, only responded with more slow, tortuous kisses over her breasts, avoiding her hardened nipples that were screaming for attention. 

“I don’t know how you plan to get me to 10 orgasms when you’re moving at the pace of a turtle stuck in glue,” She complained again, but this only inspired him to continue to kiss around her nipple with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“I take it all back, I don’t lo-…” she began but instantly moaned when his mouth finally covered her nipple.

“What was that?” he chuckled while moving to her other breast and covering her nipple with his mouth, his tongue moving in a circular motion around it.

“Nothing, I said I love you and keep going,” she breathed heavily as he began to suck and suction a small part of her breast in his mouth – the heat from it driving her absolutely wild.

“That’s what I thought,” he grinned and moved his body to the edge of the daybed to continue his slow, wet and torturous kisses down her stomach.

Raquel’s eyes closed as her skin tingled with every touch. He’d somehow managed to get her even hotter than she was before her first orgasm. She was in love with an evil sex genius, she concluded. Sergio was the Clark Kent to this sexual superhero with a superhuman tongue. And it was a side of him only  _ she _ knew. Tears began to form at just the thought of how significant that was, but she didn’t let herself dwell on it, avoiding another messy, emotional outburst.  Plus, if she had to go through this torture again...

She sat up slightly as his mouth began to move to her upper thighs, bypassing the place she yearned for him the most. He kissed down her thigh and to her knees before moving to her other leg and kissing back up her thigh. 

She spread her legs even more in hopes he’d get the hint as to where she wanted to be kissed but instead, he licked up her inner thigh, leaving a kiss just inches from her throbbing sex. She could feel her inner walls lightly vibrating in anticipation.

Losing patience, Raquel moved her hand to the back of his head, pushing his mouth on her with a force that nearly shocked Sergio, but he quickly recovered when he felt her wet lips on his.  _ God, he missed how she tasted.  _ There was a sweetness that was so faint but it nearly consumed him while his tongue ran up along her slit, exploring her folds lightly at first.

_ Finally,  _ she moaned when she felt the tip of his tongue lightly glide along her, the heat from it going straight to her cheeks, causing them to redden. Sergio looked up to see her eyes closed, her teeth biting her bottom lip and her hands attempting to grip the fabric of the daybed as he slowly and thoroughly licked every corner of her except her clit.

Her breathing got even heavier the longer his tongue explored every nook and cranny of her wet pussy. 

“Sergio…” she moaned when his tongue began to move in and out of her, hitting a new spot that filled her with immense pleasure. Unfortunately, for Raquel, his pace remained torturously slow. She didn’t know if seconds, minutes or hours had passed since his tongue slowly entered her, fucking her so thoroughly.

Sergio could feel her moving herself with his mouth in an effort quicken the pace, but he wasn’t ready to give in yet. It had been weeks since his tongue had been on her, and he wanted to memorize every spot, her taste and the way her body moved with him. He wondered if past partners gave into her lack of patience when it came to being pleasured. If they pushed her to nearly her breaking point before giving into her need to feel that explosion within. He was beginning to know her tells – it would start with teasing insults, followed by empty threats and then her body would move in a way to take control. 

And every other time they’d been together, he could never ignore her body. When she began to show signs of wanting to orgasm, he gave in.

But not tonight. 

Tonight, he was going to show her just how patient he could be. He wasn’t going to let her set the pace she wanted. He was going to take control. He hoped that the ending would be worth this slow, sensual journey. That his slow pace now would enable her body orgasm many times subsequently. 

In theory, if he could treat her body like an orchestra playing a symphony, every part of her would come together in beautiful harmony. He was the conductor using his tongue to instruct when her instruments should begin to play. Some would give her soft pleasure like a violin solo, others she would feel deeply like a trombone vibrating within her, and at times, he’d use his tongue to get them all to play together only to stop and continue the slow tempo that would eventually build into a climax that would leave the audience breathless.

Now, they were getting closer to the crescendo. His tongue quickened its pace, licking her from top to bottom in a zigzag pattern to inspire all of her instruments to play. He could feel her body beginning to tense as the pleasure shot through her. The harmony of his movements were inspiring beautiful music in her body. Her breaths began to follow the same rhythm of his tongue, the two nearly in unison. 

His tongue fluttered over her clit, alternating between licking and sucking as they reached the crescendo. Her moans growing louder, the faster his mouth moved over the spot she’d been begging him to touch for what felt like hours. It was nearly unbearable but when she tried to move him away, his tongue fluttered over her clit even harder, sending her into one of the most powerful orgasms. He could feel her twitching over his tongue as her body attempted to recover.

He could hear her breathe a sigh of happiness and relief.

However, the song wasn’t over.

Sergio began to leave light kisses on her inner thighs as she attempted to catch her breath.

“Sergio,” she whined when she realized he wasn’t moving from his current position. “What are you…” she began but was quickly silenced to the return of his tongue on her. At first, she wanted to push him away as she was feeling too sensitive but he quickly moved his tongue along her again, making words impossible to form.

This time, however, he wasn’t moving slowly. His tongue was effortlessly moving around her clit, eliciting a deep moan from her throat. Sergio nearly shot his load in his pants over how sexy and primal the sound was. 

When she was ready, he began to conduct a second crescendo, quickly leading to another powerful orgasm. She didn’t hold back the screams as the pleasure shot through her stomach and to the back of her throat. 

This time, however, he didn’t stop. He continued to suck on her even as her orgasm had subsided. For a few seconds, it wasn’t pleasurable and just as she was about to protest, he added a new instrument to the final movement. One finger entered her slowly, awakening another nerve ending and leaving her completely incoherent. The heat she felt from the movement of his tongue and now the addition of a second finger made her body feel like it was completely red under infrared light. 

It didn’t take long for her third orgasm to overtake her body. It was the weakest of the three, but still powerful enough to inspire a loud moan as it nearly shocked her.

The symphony was complete.

“Fuck, Sergio…” Raquel sighed when he moved up next to her. 

“That’s four,” he grinned, enjoying witnessing a woman who was always in control trying to find steady ground again.

Raquel opened her eyes and really looked at him, laughing over how disheveled he looked. “You’re a mess,” she laughed, noting how wet his beard was with her cum.

Sergio simply laughed and moved in to kiss her. She squealed when she felt her wetness around her lips when his lips smacked against hers playfully.

“You’re disgusting,” she laughed while pushing him over to climb on top of him. It was time for her to take control and torture him.

She mirrored his earlier movements, leaving kisses all along his neck, check, stomach until she reached his pants. She nearly gasped over the outline of his cock through his pants and could see a wet stain from his pre-cum. “Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoyed those three orgasms,” she teased while unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down with his boxers in one quick motion.

Similar to Sergio, she moved her lips to his upper thighs and kissed down his leg, ignoring the throbbing cock begging for attention. “Not so nice when the tables are turned, is it?” Raquel teased when she heard him sigh in frustration over how slow her kisses were.

“No, this is perfectly fine,” Sergio attempted to lie, but when his tone moved up an octave on the word ‘fine’, Raquel laughed. It filled her with immense joy that he wasn’t immune to her. That his body craved her the way hers did for him.

Her hands moved up his legs as she kissed and licked up his left thigh, causing Sergio’s breath to grow shallower. Her mouth finally reached his cock, and he felt a jolt of pleasure run through his body when her tongue licked along his tip and down his shaft. She took her time, letting her tongue explore him thoroughly as he’d done with her.

When she heard him moan, she locked eyes with him. They continued to stare at each other as she moved her mouth back to his tip and began to suck on it. 

“Yess…” Sergio hissed as she began to move her mouth up and down his length at a gradual pace. Fast enough for him to feel pleasure but slow enough to continue to torture him. 

When she could feel he was getting closer to the point of no return, she gave his hard cock one last kiss and moved her body over his, rubbing her arousal over his. This break had given her enough time to recover. And the way he tasted, felt and moved in her mouth was enough for her to be ready for him again.

She’d always been comfortable with her sexuality and had, especially in her twenties, pushed her own personal limits with partners, but to have a combination of this freedom together while being completely in love felt foreign to her. Perhaps it was years of mediocre sex with one partner who prioritized his own pleasure over hers. She could count on one hand, the number of times he’d made her cum with his mouth. And here was Sergio, who made her cum three times with his tongue in just one night. 

And no one would have ever suspected it by the way he carried himself. Seemingly so serious, intelligent, and not one to waste time.

But what could easily be dismissed was how he was a strategist and a theorist. If he knew the outcome would be better than the last, he’d be willing to try something new. He’d adjust his strategy to ensure he reached his goals. Most people she’d been with would simply do what they knew worked. Strategy, theories, and new methods wouldn’t even come to mind.

Yes, Sergio’s genius, when he wanted it to, translated into everything he did. Even sex.

She watched as his eyes closed as she rubbed her wet pussy along his hard length a few times before taking him by hand to position it in front of her opening. When she sunk down on him, they both sighed in unison, relieved to be feeling this connected again.

Sergio sat up as she began to thrust into him to hold her closer. She smiled at his need for intimacy and loosely wrapped her legs around him as she continued to slowly move on top of him.

His hands moved to the back of her head to bring her lips to his in a light kiss. Neither moved away, resting their lips on each other as their breathing grew shallower with each thrust. Their breaths added to the sounds of the waves, the wind rustling through the trees and the faint sounds of the crickets. It was as if they were a part of nature at that moment.

Sergio’s hand moved to Raquel's clit, rubbing it in circular patterns while she thrust in him, She kissed him in gratitude for always thinking of her pleasure, before moving her face to the crook of his neck as she felt her body in the beginning stages of her fifth orgasm of the night. Just as a large wave thrashed its way up the beach, Raquel let go, leaving small kisses on Sergio’s neck as she rode the waves of her orgasm, feeling the large wave first followed by a few smaller waves as her body relaxed on Sergio’s.

In a moment of complete bliss, Raquel kissed Sergio’s shoulder, neck, and then crashed her lips on his, “I love you,” she whispered as her lips moved over his.

“I love you.” Sergio sighed, resting his forehead on hers. 

After a few minutes of lightly kissing, holding each other, and whispering words of affection, Raquel squeezed her thighs together and began to move again, earning a deep moan from Sergio who’d been holding on for so long.

“Let go, cariño,” she whispered into his ear while leaving a light kiss on it. 

“Only if you join me,” He smiled, not giving up on his goal to get her to 10 orgasms tonight.

“I don’t think-” She began to protest but was quickly interrupted with his mouth licking and sucking her nipples as they increased the speed of their thrusts. Her hand moved to her clit, rubbing it roughly as the two continued to move together. 

He moved his lips back up to hers and kissed her hungrily as they two moved together messily; their primal needs invading their senses. His hands moved to her ass cheeks to bring her closer, moving even deeper into her.

The two moaned together, sweat beads forming on their foreheads as they moved even faster. Raquel could feel how raw her pussy was with every thrust and rub, but the pleasure she felt pushed her to keep going as her free hand moved up the nape of Sergio’s neck and into his hair bringing his forehead to hers as the two began to unravel together. As soon as Sergio felt Raquel beginning to shake on him, he finally let go, bursting into her. 

For a few minutes, the two breathed heavily in each other’s arms in an attempt to return to reality after what felt like an out of body experience. When Raquel felt Sergio soften inside her, she moved off of him and gently pushed him down on the daybed, snuggling her body into his as they both remained silent over the intensity of their lovemaking.

They looked up at each other, smiling blissfully over how good they felt. “That was amazing,” Raquel said while kissing his arm to further show how appreciative she was of him.

“It was,” Sergio kissed the top of her head, a smile seemingly tattooed to his face after what he’d call the perfect night after fearing for a brief moment this was going to come to an end.   


“Can I ask you something?”

“If it’s when you can give me orgasm number seven, I need time…”

“No,” Sergio laughed. “It’s about what you said about Julia...:”

“What about her?”

“You said that, on paper, she could have been everything you asked for. What did you mean by that?” He asked softly. 

“She’s not afraid of a serious relationship, she goes after what she wants, she is emotionally intelligent,” she listed off. “Why?”

“Do you think she’s your perfect match?”

“On the show? She could be, yes.”

“Right…”

“Why are you asking me this now? After everything we’ve just done together... are you jealous?” She asked, curious as why this was on his mind while they lay outside naked with only the sounds of nature surrounding them.

“No, it’s not that,” he denied. “I was just curious what a perfect match looked like for you on paper…”

“Sergio…” She whispered, sitting up to look into his eyes as she contemplated her response. “Honestly? I answered their questions asking for the opposite of my ex husband. Someone who is kind, loving, not threatened by success, family-oriented and would love me for who I am and not who they hoped I’d be for them. Yes, Julia could check those boxes, but so do you. To be honest, you’re more than what I asked for. I didn’t know someone like you could exist,” she responded, her voice growing thick with emotion.

Sergio contemplated what she had just revealed, holding in just how much her words had affected him as he thought about how to respond. As he lay on this uncomfortable daybed with the woman he loved more and more after every minute with her, he was filled with a feeling that felt so foreign to him yet comforting at the same time.

“Let’s move in together,” he finally said after a few seconds of silence.

“What?” Raquel’s eyes widened not expecting this from him.

“After the show…” He continued, growing more and more attached to this idea. 

“You want to live with me, my daughter and mother?” Raquel asked, shocked by his offer. 

“Yes,” he confirmed, “I don’t want us to go back to our separate lives after this. A few dates every week doesn’t feel right.”

“You’re willing to give up your solitude…and live with a grandmother, mother and daughter?” She asked, holding back sobs over how significant this was.

“Right now, I am..."

"Wow," she attempted to breathe. "Are you sure?"  


"I know it’ll be an adjustment, but I can’t imagine living without you by my side every day. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I don’t want this feeling to end.”

“It’s just…” Raquel stuttered, shocked over how profound of an offer this was, “This is… crazy. We've only known each other for a few weeks.”

Sergio looked at the woman in his arms, scared that he had pushed too far, too fast. His whole life had been carefully planned. Every detail studied meticulously. The cause and effect of a situation contemplated for days before he made important life choices, but with Raquel, he was ready to throw it out the window and let his feelings guide his decisions. It was scary, unchartered territory but it somehow felt more right than any other commitment he’s made in his life. 

“So crazy…” she continued, looking down for a split second and then back up to his eyes; her hand moving to stroke his beard tenderly, reassuringly. “That I can’t imagine not doing it.”

Sergio grabbed the hand that was on his beard, bringing it to his mouth. “After this game, we’ll work on the details and move in together.”

“Okay,” she squeezed his hand.

Okay,” he smiled back, capturing her lips in his once again. It didn’t take long for the two of them to get lost in the familiar taste and feel of their mouths moving together in a slow but passionate rhythm. Yet, when Sergio’s hand began to slowly caress it’s way down her body, she immediately swatted it away.

“Don’t even think about it,” Raquel warned playfully, “I’m too soar.”

Sergio smiled, sitting up and looking behind the daybed. “I think I have the perfect remedy for that.”

“Sleep?” Raquel asked hopefully.

“The hot tub is free, and it looks like all the lights are off in the house…”

“Pass me your shirt,” she sat up while playfully rolling her eyes, taking the fabric from him and wrapping it around her while he put on his boxers. 

He smiled and took her hand in his, helping her off the daybed, allowing his eyes to adjust to the partially illuminated backyard with the fake tiki lights surrounding the pool. He led her to the hot tub, turning on the jets while she walked to the nearby cupboard for towels.

“This is crazy,” she remarked while Sergio removed his boxers and slowly walked into the hot water, immersing himself.

“But it feels amazing,” he sighed happily, as the water began to make his stiff body feel limber and pain-free. She soon followed, removing his shirt and submerging her body, mimicking the same sound as the water instantly healed her stiff back.

She slid her body closer to his, “I have a question for you now,” she voiced after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “How do you know what an acrylic pour is?”

Sergio immediately grimaced, his mind going back to a particular memory. “My brother set me up on a blind double date with him at an art studio where we learned how to do it. I hated it at first,” he confessed.

“The date or pouring paint?”

“Both,” he laughed bitterly. “She was a fine arts professor who kept criticizing my choice of colours and then when I poured the paint on the canvass, she yelled at my technique and it spilled all over the place. It was messy, and my first attempt looked like a brown mess.”

“And you somehow associated it with me?” She asked, shocked by his confession.

“The second attempt was better. She said that she couldn’t be on a date with someone who couldn’t appreciate art and stormed out.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Raquel laughed.

“My brother still teases me about it,” he rolled his eyes. “When I got it to work, it was surprisingly relaxing. I made my own set-up and when I was feeling stressed, I would put on one of my favourite sonatas and let the music guide the paint.... I now have a storage unit partly filled with paintings,” he confessed, laughing as he revealed the last line.

“And here, I thought you’d be into something less messy like origami,” she teased.

“I also love origami,” he confessed, “but that’s something I do when I’m feeling motivated and need to get my mind focused on a task. Painting is my secret escape.”

“I love that,” Raquel grinned, taking his hand in hers under the water. “You have so much more depth to you than you show anyone...:” she marveled. 

“You’re the first person I have wanted to share it with,” he confessed shyly and was shocked when her lips crashed on his, conveying just how thankful she was to see a side of him he’s hidden from the world his whole life. 

As they kissed deeply, hungrily, he subtly positioned her body in front of one of the jets, moving his own body in front of hers, holding her closer. When she moaned into his mouth and started to soft grind into him, he knew his plan was working.

For a few minutes, they enjoyed the feeling of their lips, their teasing tongues and how their noses smashed together. It was slow, sensual and somewhat lazy. Her wet hands were gliding through his hair while his were on her cheek and the nape of her neck, tenderly caressing her as they continued to kiss like two teenagers who were content to make-out for hours.

“Damn it, Sergio,” Raquel moaned into his mouth when the jet started to hit the right spot, the heat should could feel brewing shocking her. She assumed her sex was currently overly lit candle wick that could barely produce a spark.

Laughing against her lips, Sergio’s hand moved under the water, feeling how her own juices were started to lightly coat her again. 

“You’re insatiable,” she sighed breathily when she felt his first finger slowly enter her while the water jet continued to spray her clit. 

“You inspire me,” Sergio teased, adding another finger in her, fucking her slowly and deeply, letting the water jet do the majority of the work. 

“One day, that line won’t work,” she warned breathily, the impact of his fingers coupled with the pressure from the water becoming nearly unbearable.

His fingers stopped, “Is that so?”

One of her hands that had been pulling on his hair moved to his wrist under the water in an effort to move his fingers for him. “Not today,  _ joder, _ ” she groaned. “Don’t stop.”

Sergio smiled, moving his fingers faster when he could feel her growing more and more heated. As she pushed herself on his fingers and angled her body for the full impact of the jet, he could feel himself harden again. She was so sexy when she let pleasure control her movements. Nothing compared to the moment Raquel Murillo was about to cum - her red cheeks, tightly shut eyes, and her tongue on her bottom lip. She was a vision. 

Soon, he heard her squeak as the dual pressure of the water and his fingers brought her to her seventh orgasm of the night. And, somehow, it was still powerful enough to leave her breathless.

Rather than stopping, however, Raquel kissed Sergio fiercely while moving her hand over his hard cock, thankful he was able to get it up within an hour of their last session. She stroked it a few times as the two kissed, the vibrations of his moans felt on her tongue. Her body was craving another orgasm and who was she to deny helping Sergio reach his goal.

She weightlessly moved her body closer to his, bringing his hard cock to her entrance and sinking down on him once again, the pressure of the jet now hitting both of them as they slowly began to move together. 

“You’re amazing,” Sergio breathed into her mouth as they quickened their pace, the waves in the water growing stronger as they moved faster. His hands moved to her breasts, lightly tweaking her nipples, earning a small gasp from her as the two continued to lazily kiss as they made love.

“Ohhh Sergio,” she whispered on his lips just as she reached her eighth orgasm of the night. He quickly followed, unable to control himself with the feeling of her shaking on him with the pressure of the water in between them.

He kissed her lips, cheeks, nose, eyelids as she attempted to steady her breathing after such a powerful burst of pleasure.  _ Again. _

She could honestly say that she’d never felt as connected to someone - mind and body - as she did with Sergio in this moment. The moonlight still shining in the distance. The ocean waves slowing down. The distant sounds of the birds waking up. And their breaths mingling together as they attempted to relax with her legs wrapped around him, hugging him close to her.

“I missed you,” Raquel confessed while resting her head in the crook of his neck. “I missed this,” she left a kiss on his shoulder.

Before he could respond, he noticed the kitchen light turn on in front of him, “Oh shit, get down,” he whispered. 

The two watched as Alicia opened the fridge door grabbing a bowl, smiling to herself. When they were about to look away, they noticed Agata joining her from behind, leaving a kiss on her shoulder.

“What the…” Raquel nearly yelled.

“Shhh!” Sergio placed his hand over her mouth. 

“When did they…” she whispered, watching the two women kissing with the refrigerator door still open, forgotten behind them.

“You can ask them tomorrow,” Sergio whispered.

“You bet your ass I will,” she whispered, frustrated that she was in the dark about this new development, “I can’t believe they didn’t tell me!”

“Do they know you’re with me right now?”

“Ok, fair point,” she gave in and then looked at the two women smiling together as they grabbed food from the bowl and put it back in the fridge. “They look so happy,” she observed, relieved to see her two friends smiling.

“They do,” Sergio agreed but was thankful when they turned off the lights and went back upstairs.

“I guess we should go to bed,” Raquel frowned, realizing how late it was.

“Or, we could sleep out here for a couple of hours,” Sergio suggested.

“They’ll all know if we’re not in bed when everyone wakes up…” she protested, hating the very idea of going back in her single bed alone.

“They won’t be awake for another five hours at least. We have time,” he cajoled while standing in the hot tub and grabbing their towels as he walked out.

She wrapped the towel around her as she joined him on the fake grass, “Okay, but when the sun comes up, we go back in.”

“Deal,” he smiled, grabbing a blanket off of one of the lounge chairs and walking back to the daybed where they had started the night. Once dry, he pulled on his boxers as she put his shirt back on, fastening only a couple of buttons, still leaving her breasts partly exposed. 

They could both feel the utter exhaustion from the night the second their bodies hit the outdoor bed. Sergio brought her closer to him, pulling the light blanket over them as they were lulled to sleep by the melody of birds, waves and light wind rustling through the trees.

* * *

The light from the rising sun awakened Raquel a few hours later. She was shocked to find herself alone but quickly turned her head towards the ocean to see Sergio standing on the beach, in only his boxers, lost in thought.

He had achieved getting her to 10 orgasms, waking her up with a kiss on the shoulder a couple of hours ago, lazily fucking her while spooned behind her, both too tired to move but yearning to make love one last time before they returned to the house. After she cummed twice, she couldn’t help smile over how proud he looked. She did, however, warn him that after today, her vagina would be in recovery for the foreseeable future. The shop was closed. No exceptions.

_ Worth it.  _ Were the final words that came out of his mouth before the two fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Feeling the heat of the sun already raising the temperature of her body, she knew it was soon time to go inside and focus on the game again. She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach, leaving a light kiss of affection on his back. 

He couldn’t help but smile, feeling her arms slide around him, and moved his hands over hers, squeezing them lightly. 

“I don’t want to go back inside and pretend there is nothing between us,” Sergio confessed. 

“Me too,” Raquel sighed, resting her head on his back, “But we’re so close to getting through this. Only a couple of more weeks.”

“I know,” Sergio attempted to smile. “But a couple of weeks in here feels like an eternity. And I want more than stolen moments with you during one of the few times in our life that we won’t be interrupted by work and family.

Raquel left a few more kisses on his back, attempting to comfort the dread he was feeling. “We’ll be okay,” assured him. 

“I know we will,” he smiled, turning back to meet her eyes.

“Tomorrow, I have my weekly video call with Paula. They always leave me alone in a room for privacy. Maybe you can join me?” She asked shyly, “And meet my daughter?”

“I would love that,” he held her tighter to show her just how much that request meant to him and how this night together felt like it was the beginning of their life together.

“Good,” she nodded, leaving one last kiss on his back before moving away from him. “Everyone will be up in a couple of hours. We should go and pretend we slept in the house last night.”

“I’ll be inside in a minute,” he smiled, his eyes still on the ocean. He knew the second he walked into the house, their break from the game would be over. And he wasn’t yet emotionally prepared to go back to prioritizing the nonsensical puzzle of this game over spending time with the woman he only dreamed of one day meeting as a young sick boy who imagined his future when the doctor finally told him he had one.

* * *

Later that morning, Raquel flipped two eggs in the pan while humming “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone to herself. As tired and hungry as she was, her mood was bright after such a magical (and tiring) night with Sergio. 

“I noticed you and Sergio weren’t around last night,” Sofia voiced her observation while grabbing a mug from the cupboard and pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Your point?” Raquel asked, her patience running thin with the woman in front of her. 

“What kind of spell do you have over him?” She asked, taking a sip of her hot coffee, grimacing when the hot liquid hit her throat.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Raquel shrugged, placing her eggs on her plate next to one piece of lightly buttered toast.

“I offered him everything yesterday on our date. I even told him to come find me in the boom boom room after the Truth Booth ceremony, and he never showed up.”

“Maybe he’s not interested?” Raquel shrugged, taking her plate and sitting at the table in an attempt to display how unaffected she was by this conversation.

“It doesn’t take much of a detective to figure out that he ran back to you like a lost puppy last night,” she continued, taking the seat next to Raquel’s, not giving the woman the space she was clearly trying to put between them. 

“And why would it matter if he did? You’re not his match,” Raquel took a bite of her eggs to hide her growing annoyance.

“Neither are you!” She yelled, “But you seem to have some hold on him that stops him from getting to know people better suited for him.

Raquel, dropping the fork on her plate loudly, started to see red over the implication, “What makes you think I’m not good for him?” She asked, instantly regretting that she’d given into Sofia’s taunts.

“What’s going on?” Alicia asked while walking into the kitchen to discover the two women in what appeared to be a stalemate.

“Sofia’s mad she and Sergio aren’t a perfect match and it’s somehow my fault,” Raquel rolled her eyes, never looking away from the younger woman.

“Does the man have a magical penis?” Alicia asked herself, confused over the idea that these two beautiful women would fight over such a nerd. 

“Move on, Sofia,” Raquel rolled her eyes. “He’s not interested.”

“And you think he’s actually interested in you?” Sofia laughed. “Please, you’re just a good fuck and he’ll be running to me the second he’s bored of you and your weird daughter.”

_ Slap. _

As soon as Sofia made a comment about Paula, her hand automatically smacked her across the face in anger. That was a line no one was allowed to cross.

Sofia, however, only smirked at Raquel as all of the camera operators ran over to surround them. She quickly changed her expression, looking into the cameras shocked by the outburst. 

“She slapped me!” she yelled in fake outrage, holding her red cheek. 

“What happened?” The producer asked.

“I told her about my date with Sergio yesterday, and she got mad at me. I can’t help it if he wants me…”

“That’s not-” Raquel began to protest, but she was quickly interrupted and told to go outside to talk to one of the producers with all of the cameras on her. A plethora of questions being asked of her since they had captured the slap without sound.

When she was out of the room, Alicia walked over to Sofia who was holding back a smile, elated that her plan went better than she had anticipated.

“What are you doing?”

Sofia shrugged, “Having little fun,” she revealed vaguely while walking out of the room.

Alicia looked at Raquel who was attempting to defend herself and then to the stairs Sofia had just walked up. That woman was absolutely crazy, she concluded. 

_**[cheesy voiceover]** Awwww, Sergio and Raquel are really IN love in this bonus chapter. But who pissed in Sofia's cereal!? AND Agata and Alicia?! All to be revealed in the final three chapters. Yes, there are STILL three chapters to go. _


	16. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back to crack! The last couple of chapters have been a bit more romantic and steamy, but in this chapter, we're back to in the house with, I hope, some moments that will have you laughing during yet another lockdown (at least in Canada).
> 
> It's impossible to describe this chapter, but I think I have missed writing this world so much for the past couple of months that I let myself lose some control and have fun with the characters. It also brings us into the final chapters of the story.
> 
> I want to thank everyone who is still reading for your patience. My job consumed my life for a few months so it was impossible to find the time to write but with lockdown #2 here, I'm hoping I can finally finish this story over the next month. Thank you for your support of this crazy world and everyone who has left comments, sent messages, tweets, etc. I was so close to abandoning this story, but this has meant to much to me to write and a part of me is in this story that I knew I needed to take the time to finish. And I reread your comments recently as a way to push myself to get it back, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this outrageous chapter. It's also 14k words long, so I understand if you give up and go eat a cookie. You can tell me how the cookie was. I like cookies.

Everything surrounding Raquel felt like it was moving at hyper speed as the questions from multiple people were coming at her at lightning speed, giving her no time to process her thoughts.

_ Why did you slap, Sofia? _

_ Is it true you’re jealous of Sofia and Sergio? _

_ Have you always had a bad temper? _

_ What would your daughter think? _

“STOP!” Raquel shouted, her hands covering her face when the question about her daughter felt like thousands of needles piercing through her heart. What kind of mother was she, setting such a terrible example for her little Paulita? 

Antoñanzas, seeing her gasp for air while the production team stood in silence over her outburst, pushed his team away, “Go get back to work,” he demanded of the six people surrounding Raquel in a circle and then softened as he watched Raquel unsuccessfully attempting to hold back tears. 

“Come with me,” he whispered softly, leading her through the house. 

Without thinking, she followed him, doing her best to ignore the questioning eyes of her fellow contestants, especially Sergio who looked like he was vibrating from within in an attempt to keep his distance. She made it a point to make eye contact with him to assure him that she’d be okay.

“What happened?” Agata whispered to Sergio as the two watched Antoñanzas lead Raquel in the interview room.

“She slapped Sofia,” Alicia smirked, coming up behind the two.

“She… what?” Sergio stuttered, looking around to discover that the mood of the house had completely shifted since he had left Raquel this morning after a night of pure bliss.

“It was a set up,” Alicia revealed, her tone serious. “Sofia planned it to… who knows why. She’s fucking crazy.”

When Sergio began to automatically walk in Sofia’s direction, Alicia ran in front of him to intercept his path. “No,” she stopped him.

“Raquel will be okay,” Alicia attempted to soothe. “Don’t give into what Sofia wants…”

“And what’s that?” Sergio mumbled, holding in his anger.

“Attention,” Agata filled in. “She wants attention.”

“I need to see if Raquel…” Sergio shifted his focus from Sofia to the closed door.

She’s with Antoñanzas. He’s the only producer who isn’t a complete dick,” Agata reassured.

**/ /**

“What happened?”  Antoñanzas asked once he had turned on the camera and positioned Raquel in her seat.

“Sofia came into the kitchen, wanting to start a fight with me. And I fell for it…” Raquel sighed in complete annoyance over her actions. “She wanted that moment, didn’t she?”

“It seems like it,” the younger man nodded. He stopped the camera for a moment. “I’m sorry that we have to do this on camera. It’s just…”

“You’ll get in trouble if the biggest drama of the week isn’t well documented,” Raquel rolled her eyes. “I get it.”

“For what it’s worth, I know she planned it. I saw her talking to Tamayo after, and I suspect he turned off all the mics so that it would be her word against yours without proof.”

“She’s smart,” Raquel attempted to laugh, but it came out as a frustrated breath. “I’ll give her that.”

Antoñanzas looked down for a moment and then back at Raquel who appeared to be calmer, “Are you ready?”

“Let’s get this over with,” she half-smiled as he turned the camera back on. 

“Sofia has made it very clear she has an issue with you,” Antoñanzas began. “What started this conflict between you two?”

“She wants Sergio,” Raquel responded easily. “And I’m in the way of her getting what she wants.”   


“Do you think what she feels for him is real?”

“I can’t answer that,” Raquel shrugged. “It seems like she cares more about the competition with me than she does about Sergio, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she did feel something for him. Sergio is a special guy.”

“Speaking of Sergio,” Antoñanzas gulped nervously, not wanting to reveal what he had witnessed last night. “Are you two together? Or?”

“Or what,” Raquel demanded defensively. 

“Or...not?” the young producer took a deep breath in an attempt to ease his nerves.

“Not,” Raquel lied, but looked at the younger man suspiciously. “Why?”

“You both seemed to really get along for weeks,” Antoñanzas said in an attempt to ease her suspicions “Is it really over?”

“We both decided that winning the game was a priority and have been doing that…”

“You have,” he nodded in agreement. “Do you miss him?”

Raquel’s mind flashed back to her night with him, his loving words, the caresses, the ten orgasms, but then remembered it needed to appear as if they hadn’t been together in weeks. “I do,” she admitted.

“So your relationship was real? Not just for the cameras?”

“Why would you ask me that?!” Raquel demanded while running a hand through her hair in frustration. “Did I give you the impression my feelings weren’t real?”

“No,” Antoñanzas denied quickly, turning off the camera. “I’m sorry, this was given to me by our content team. I know what you have with Sergio is real…”

“Have?” Raquel immediately questioned suspiciously, picking up on his tense.

“I saw you two last night….” he confessed. 

“Oh,” Raquel blushed. “That’s on… camera?”

“No,” he denied, shaking his head furiously. “Andres was with me and demanded all cameras were turned off.”

“That’s a relief,” Raquel let out the breath she’d been holding in. “But why….”

“Because he was so happy to see Sergio in love for the first time,”  Antoñanzas confessed, his eyes softening at the memory.

Raquel couldn’t help but smile in response, “I’m relieved to hear he put his brother before the TV show…”

“You know about that?”

“I do,” Raquel confirmed. “So what now?”

“What?”

“What do you want me to say about this Sofia situation? About Sergio?”

“The show wants you to be mad at her and jealous over Sergio,” he revealed. “They want this interview to…”

“...to be the climax to the drama that Soifia has invented for attention?”

“Bingo…”

“Let’s give them what they want,” Raquel smirked. “She started this, but I’ll finish it. Turn the camera back on,” she instructed while sitting up straight. 

* * *

Raquel walked out of the interview room, frowning. She despised this drama she’d been thrusted into without consent and hated even the notion that giving into this fabricated storyline would end up setting the wrong example for her daughter. She wanted to revel in the feeling of taking down Sofia, but as a mother, she couldn’t help but wonder if she just made the right decision.

“Raquel,” Sofia greeted tersely, leaning against the wall in front of the large communal closet. “You’re still here…”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” 

“No reason,” she frowned, staring at her nails in an effort to hide her shock. “I had just overheard one of the producers saying the next person to hit someone would be kicked out…”

Realization hit Raquel like a brick, her eyes widening, “You want me out of here…”

“Duh,” Sofia rolled her eyes in response. “And…” she began as she walked closer to Raquel, her voice in a harsh whisper, “I always get what I want.” 

Raquel could swear she heard the younger woman cackle while she walked down the stairs. She was starting to believe she was a Disney villain like in those unrealistic fairy tales Paula loved so much.

**/ /**

Sergio paced in the bedroom as he waited for Raquel to finish her interview. It had already been thirty minutes… what was taking her so long? 

“I can hear your thoughts from down the hall,” a voice interrupted his frantic movements.

“Raquel,” he breathed a sigh of relief, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she reassured him from across the room, keeping it cordial as she was aware of the cameras surrounding them.

Sergio stopped himself from running to her, yearning to take her in his arms, to kiss away all of her anxiety. “Are you sure?”   


“Yes,” she nodded sadly.

“Are  _ we _ okay?” He asked, ignoring the cameras for a moment.

“Of course,” she smiled. “We’re friends. Whatever happens with Sofia doesn’t change that,” she lied for the sake of their cover.

Sergio frowned, “Friends…” he said bitterly. Although a part of him knew it was an act, the word still left him with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“It’s what we agreed on last night,  _ remember _ ?” She emphasized the word ‘remember’ in an attempt to get him on the same page as she was.  _ Come on, Sergio _ , she thought. Be the professor right now.

“Right,” he smiled, showing her he was going along with her story. “I’m happy we’re friends again.”

“Good.”

“Good….”

“While you were being interviewed, we were told that a tropical storm is coming our way tonight,” Sergio informed her, changing the subject.

“Oh…”

“They are planning to board up all of the windows this afternoon, and the match-up ceremony will be in an hour.”

“Oh,” Raquel frowned yet again.

“Are you okay?” Sergio asked, concerned by the blank stare he was getting from her.

“Paula is scared of storms,” She confessed, whispering the words to herself.

“Ah,” Sergio understood.

“Am I a terrible mother?” Raquel asked, voicing the storm that was brewing in her head while sitting on her bed. Her left hand running through her hair shakily as the question she’d been asking herself in her head for years left her lips for the first time.

“No...of course not,” Sergio replied, unsure of how to approach this. Of what words to say to reassure her. What made a good mother? He never knew his mom well enough to know how to define good vs. bad, but he knew by spending time with Raquel that her first priority in life was her daughter. That had to mean she was a good mother, right?

“I left her for months to be on a TV show. I hit someone this week rather than talking to her rationally like I always tell my daughter to do when she’s been bullied. And I don’t even want to think about how many intimate moments between us have been caught on camera…”

“Raquel…” Sergio whispered awkwardly, taking a seat on the bed next to her, wishing he could take her in his arms or, at the very least, hold her hand, but his eyes went up to the cameras, looking down at them almost daring them to slip up. “You came here to help your mom…”

“Did I? Is that really why?!” Her voice got louder, her anger growing as she pronounced each word. “Or did I need a break from it?” she asked as tears formed in her eyes as she voiced an inner fear she’d been holding in for years.

“What do you mean?”

“After I left Alberto, I was the bad guy in Paula’s eyes. I was the reason she didn’t get to see her dad. And we tried using a supervised access centre for them to have safe visits, but after a few months, he stopped showing up. And who had to deal with the fall-out? Me. I was the reason he didn’t show up…”

“Raquel…” he whispered, his tone filled with the emotion he could feel when every heart-wrenching word left her mouth. 

“And when he started dating my sister, he was suddenly ready to be a dad again, and since I was ‘lying’ about everything he did, he went to court to get partial custody. With my sister being a character witness, it wasn’t very hard for that to happen…. So Paula started staying with him every second weekend, and it started well, but after the first couple of weeks, he started working weekends and would barely have time to see her. And who had to deal with her broken heart? Me. But, of course, it wasn’t her dad’s fault. It was mine for destroying our family.”

“That’s terrible, I’m so sorry…” Sergio replied solemnly, finding it hard to believe her own sister could betray her, “To me, it sounds like she has a terrible father and you have a terrible sister…”

“But she doesn’t see it that way,” Raquel sighed, her shoulders slumped forward completely heartbroken. Her words and emotions were raw. This was the first time she’d admitted this to someone who wasn’t her therapist. “So when this show came up, I jumped at the chance. I found a summer camp for her, thinking that this was the best for all of us. She would still get to see her dad but it would be supervised by the camp who has a social worker on staff, and I would get a break…” she gulped, pausing for emphasis, “I’m a terrible mother,” she sobbed. “And now, I’ve been caught on camera slapping Sofia and this storm will hit her camp, and I won’t be there to hug her to sleep.” 

Sergio, unsure of how to respond, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her towards him. He kissed her hair as she sobbed in his arms, the pain of everything she’d been holding in for the last year coming out. “Do you want to know what I see?” he finally asked after a few minutes of silence as he rubbed her back soothingly, only her heartbreaking sobs filling the room.

“What?” Raquel sniffled into his shirt.

“I see a woman who puts everyone ahead of herself. You have selflessly been the one to comfort Paula at your own expense because you don’t want her to be hurt by her dad – the way he hurt you. And when your mom needed you, you made it work even if it meant being away from Paula for 10 weeks…”

“This doesn’t feel like a sacrifice,” Raquel responded, looking into his eyes, the love she felt from him bringing her comfort. Quickly, she looked away, the guilt of even having a sliver of happiness eating at her while she worried her daughter was hiding in the corner of her room from the incoming storm.

“Who said we need to be miserable when we’re helping others? You don’t have to feel guilty for being happy while you’re here to win money for you mom.” He offered, resting his head on hers

“You know? For a self-proclaimed non-people person, you have a lot of wisdom,” she smiled briefly, allowing herself a moment of inner peace in his arms,

Sergio smiled at her comment, “I’m observant.”

“You are,” she agreed. “And thank you for comforting me. I’m so sorry for being so messy...”

“Don’t be sorry,” he rubbed her arm, squeezing her body closer to his. “… And you aren’t a terrible mother. You have been put in an impossible situation and you’re doing the best you can. And one day, Paula will see that.”

“Thank you,” Raquel whispered, tears filling in her eyes. She really needed to hear those words. She’d been running on empty for so long with no affirmations; only criticisms. Every decision she made being questioned. Always being the bad guy when she was only trying to to do the best she can in such challenging circumstances. And here was this man, who came into her life in the strangest way, giving her the one thing she needed for the past year. Reassurance that she wasn’t completely failing. “I wish these cameras weren’t here…”

“Who cares about the cameras?” Sergio voiced before capturing her lips in a slow, sensual kiss, conveying how much he cared for her. His lips slid over hers tentatively in an effort to let her be the one to take control just in case this wasn’t the form comfort she needed.

“But our plan…” Raquel protested while breaking away from the kiss.

“I don’t care about the plan,” Sergio replied with conviction. “I care about  _ you.”  _

Raquel’s eyes softened, the love she felt for him erupting through her whole body like a firework. Unable to stop herself, she pulled his lips to hers for a few short quick kisses of gratitude and, as always, the passion she felt bubbling in her the moment she felt his soft lips on hers, the soft tickle of his beard on her chin, pushed her to deepen the kiss; her mouth opening and her tongue seeking his in a sensual dance.

As they continued to kiss on Raquel’s bed, they didn’t see the eyes watching them through the camera.  Antoñanzas wiped a few tears from his eyes. He got the scene Andres promised him he would, and it was one of the most emotional, raw and genuine moments he’d seen on this show. He knew these two were going to capture the hearts of Spain when this show aired, and he couldn’t wait to see it unfold.

* * *

The wind was picking up as the contestants walked on to the stage, the whistling through the trees growing stronger every minute, the contestants freshly styled hair blowing out of place and a few of the contestants with dresses struggling not to have a "southern" Janet Jackson moment caught on camera.

"Welcome to the seventh match up ceremony, contestants,” Andres smiled as they all got into position. “Before we start, I want to welcome back to our two confirmed matches, Angel & Mari Carmen and Anibal & Silene. How has it been in the honeymoon suite?”

“Amazing,” Anibal grinned. “Silene and I have been really getting along…”

“It has been a lot of fun,” Silene agreed, “But I do miss partying with everyone. I hope a few more of you join us soon because those two are more boring than watching paint dry. They are making me miss Sergio’s lectures about the criminal justice system at 2am…”

Andres laughed, knowing full well how passionate his brother could be after a few glasses of wine. 

“Maybe we’d be more interesting if you didn’t keep us up all night fu-…” Angel grumbled.

“And we’ll stop there,” Andres laughed nervously. “We don’t have much time tonight because a tropical storm is coming and we need to have the stage cleared away in an hour. This match-up ceremony is your seventh chance to get eight perfect matches. You have yet to get more than four correct, so please use this ceremony wisely. You only have three more chances after today.”

“Maybe if we listened to Sergio, we’d have won by now,” Agata offered, hoping everyone went into this week thinking with their minds and less about who they  _ think  _ their match should be.

“I doubt that,” Suarez laughed. 

“Don’t start with me…” Agata glared at the smug idiot in front of her before Andres sounded a horn.

“Guys! A storm is coming. We don’t have time for this today. As I tell you EVERY week, pick with your heart. Your match is in here, and you ALL have to open your eyes to find them,” Andres interrupted yet another week of fighting among the contestants. They would never win if they couldn’t get past all of this tension. “Sergio, why don’t you start us off tonight?”

The group clapped and hollered as Sergio awkwardly walked to centre stage with his hands by his side, feeling completely tense at having to, yet again, play this idiotic game when he knew the results were rigged for shock value. He looked back, contemplating who to choose as his match. He met Raquel’s eyes, yearning to piss off everyone by asking her to be by his side, the only viable option in his humble opinion. But they were here to win, and for that to happen, he had to play the game.

“Tonight, I choose Julia,” he announced solemnly.

“Don’t get too excited,” Julia rolled her eyes playfully as she walked towards him.

“So, you don’t think this is a perfect match?” Andres asked the smiling woman.

“If by perfect match, you mean we want the same woman, then yes, we’re a perfect match,” Julia laughed, looking back at Raquel who was nearly blushing at her declaration.

“And who may that be Sergio?” Andres smirked, knowing the answer but reveling in, yet again, making his younger brother uncomfortable.

Sergio coughed in embarrassment, unable to put together coherent words in response to such a direct question, “Uhhh….hmmm...well….”

While Sergio was attempting to formulate words much to the amusement of Andres, Julia and even Raquel who was doing her best to hold in a smile, a large gust of wind knocked over a few launch chairs and tables, resulting in a large crash.

“Even the weather wants you to hurry up,” Andres joked at Sergio and then turned back to the couple. “Lock in you two,” he said, taking pity on his younger brother who was looking down at his shoes in embarrassment. 

The next few couples continued to confuse Andres with how little the group was learning or refusing to grasp from former match-up ceremonies, including Suarez and Palermo; Helsinki and Marseilles; Monica and Daniel; and Agata and Alicia.

Leaving Raquel and Sofia.

_ Again. _

“Oh, come on guys,” Raquel complained. “Are we really doing this again?!”

“Sorry, mi amor,” Alicia apologized, “But no one wants to choose you because it’s clear you want someone else and no one wants Sofia for obvious reasons…”

“Yes,” Daniel agreed. “I wouldn’t dare go near either of you without shoes.”

“The fuck does that mean again?!” Alicia looked around in confusion, attempting to understand the logic but coming up short, feeling a sense of deja-vu that they’d had this conversation before but she blocked it out.

“It’s a sign of intimacy between couples,” he responded as if the answer was obvious.

“Monica, does he have stinky feet?” Alicia asked, still confused by his outburst.

“Don’t bring me into this,” the blonde laughed, knowing exactly the backstory of the story and still thinking it ridiculous.

“Okay, listen,” Daniel said, “If I went to sit next to Raquel on the couch without my shoes on, it’d be like she was cheating with me.”

“Cheating?! How?” Raquel turned around. “And on who?!” She asked, pretending that she didn’t know he was talking about Sergio.

“So, it goes like this,” he laughed nervously, “If I take my shoes off with you, it’s me being vulnerable with you…”

“And what happens when the socks come off?” Agata laughed.

“Don’t answer that,” Sergio glared at Daniel, not even wanting to welcome the image of Daniel and Raquel in this unusual example of what cheating looked like in the mind of the man who’s been complaining about mayonnaise for weeks.

“Uh oh,” Alicia whispered to Agata. “Looks like our little Sergio is getting a tad possessive.”

“Or he has no patience for this stupidity,” Agata laughed.

“You bore me,” She whispered back.

“As much as I’d love for you all to continue this stimulating conversation,” Andres interrupted, “We need to get moving. Sofia and Raquel, any chance that this is fate? And the two of you are a perfect match but in denial?”

When both women looked like they were about to explode in anger, Andres simply laughed. “I can feel the sexual tension,” he commented. “Like my father always said, sex solves all problems…”

“She wishes,” Sofia smirked. 

Raquel looked back at Sergio who was glaring at his brother and took a deep breath, praying to whatever higher power existed to give her the strength to not hit the man in front of her in the balls with Sofia’s head.

“Can we get on with this?!” Raquel asked, losing more and more patience with this ceremony.

“Before you both lock in, I heard there was some tension in the house. In order for all of us to be in a place of harmony, I want you both to apologize, say one thing you like about each other and hug.”

“No,” they both protested in unison.

“A place of harmony?!” Alicia whispered to Agata. “Is that mother fucker high?” causing the younger woman to laugh into her shoulder.

“Come on ladies,” Andres cajoled while the wind began picking up again, “We’ll be swallowed up by this storm if you keep us waiting. So who is starting?”

When the two stood with their arms crossed, glaring at him, Andres laughed again, reveling in this moment. This was why he loved being a host. “I just got a message from the sharks, and they are looking forward to their buffet dinner tonight if you both don’t hurry up.”

Raquel looked up to see the clouds darken and knew there was only one way out of this. This was her opportunity to set a good example for Paula no matter how much it hurt her to do this. “Fine,” she conceded. “I’m sorry for slapping you,” she mumbled.

“What was that?” Sofia asked. “I couldn’t quite hear you.”

Raquel took a deep breath to hold in her anger, putting a fake smile on her face before facing the younger woman. “I’m sorry for hitting you, Sofia. You have been nothing but a terror to me, but I never should have slapped you. And for that, I apologize,” she said in a sickenly sweet tone.

“I don’t accept,” Sofia smiled back. 

“Sofia,” Andres warned and gestured for her to do her part. 

“Fine,” she mumbled under her breath. “I accept your apology and I’m sorry for being so hot and charming that your boyfriend wanted to have sex with me.”

“WHAT?!” Sergio screeched from behind.

“This is better than paperview,” Alicia laughed.

“My bet is on Raquel,” Agata commented.

“I don’t know…” Alicia contemplated, looking at Sergio who was seated in the chair next to her. “My bet is on the nerd shooting her with the lasers in his eyes and then exploding into a million particles.”

“Can we get on with this?!” Martin groaned in the background, losing patience over yet another fight between women. If it was all men in the house, a hole in the wall would solve all of these petty problems.

“It’s a start,” Andres grinned. “Now, say something nice about each other.”

“I’ll start,” Raquel smiled, the fake grin plastered on her face yet again. “You win the award for being one of the worst people I have ever met, including all of the sexist jerks I have to deal with at work every day. Congratulations.”

“Aww,” Sofia put her hand over her heart. “I’m touched. And you win the award for being the worst mother I’ve ever met for abandoning her daughter for two months just to fuck around with someone who is so out of her league.”

_ Slap.  _

As much as Raquel didn’t want to show it, her words stung. A lot, causing the visceral reaction of hand to cheek before she could gather her thoughts. The shame she felt hit her like a tonne of bricks, her own guilt over her recent happiness with Sergio being used against her as a mother. Her most vulnerable fears she thought she'd only shared with Sergio being served to her in this toxic game of tennis at a speed she couldn't hit back.

“BITCH!” Sofia screeched while holding her cheek in pain.

Raquel looked down at her hand vibrating with tears in her eyes. “She has me there,” she winced in pain. “Is this over yet?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper in an attempt to hold back sobs. She was defeated. 

Seeing the woman he loved nearly crumble apart on stage, Sergio began to stand up to comfort her, but Julia held his arm. “You can’t,” she whispered, stopping him. “You know the rules.

“I appreciate your concern, but fuck the rules…” Sergio gestured to Raquel who was so overcome with emotion that she was struggling to stand up, “She needs me.”

“No,” Julia pulled him back again. “She’s strong and can handle this on her own.”

“But she shouldn’t have to,” Sergio sighed, sitting back down when the crew began to surround the two women to prevent any escalating violence. 

“SHE DESERVED IT!” Alicia yelled. “If any of you fuckers punish Raquel for slapping that ferret, you’ll regret it.”

“She’s not being punished,” Andres assured the group. Completely at a loss of how to proceed with what he thought would be a fun bit of TV turning into something so nasty and personal. He simply decided to end it. “We’ll stop this here, but I beg you both to work through whatever this is for the good of the game.” he pleaded.

“Or you can kick her out for violence,” Sofia offered, her tone filled with sugary sweetness, while still holding her cheek what she could feel ringing with pain.

“Or you can quit being a complete bitch and get over whatever your issue is with me,” Raquel replied, feeling somewhat smug that the younger girl was still in pain. 

“Stop this,” Andres commanded the two women who were glaring at each other, “This is not the place of harmony I was hoping for today, but the storm is getting closer, so we’ll have to say that this was almost progress. Please lock in and go stand at opposite ends of the stage,” he instructed. 

“A ferret?!” Sofia questioned Alicia while walking towards the back left corner.

“You’re a lanky weasel, so it’s fitting,” Alicia snapped back, laughing over how she took offense to her name-calling. “And if you hurt Raquel again, you’ll have to answer to me. And I promise you, I’m not nice. Ask Suarez what I did after he pissed on Raquel’s bed.”

Suarez’s eyes widened with fear for a split second, yet he attempted to hide it by getting more comfortable in his seat.

“Or maybe not,” Alicia cackled. 

“Alicia...” Agata warned playfully.

“What? It’s about time she gets a taste of her own medicine from someone far more evil than she is…”

“You’re not evil…”

“You’re just saying that because I gave you three orgasms last night without even touching you,” she whispered.

“Madre mia!” Agata sighed in embarrassment. 

“This is the plan,” Andres interrupted the group chatter. “We only have a few minutes left before we need to pack up, so we’re going to see if you got any new matches this week. You are starting with two blue beams tonight with Angel and Mari Carmen and Silene and Anibal. If you manage to get the remaining six matches correct, you’ll win the game tonight. If you don’t get any new matches, you’ll lose 250k euros. Are you ready?”

When everyone cheered half heartedly, Andres turned around to stare at the beams of light, the stage quieting and the lights dimming for added effect. Only the sounds of the strengthening winds could be heard as they waited to see if they had improved this week.

Soon, one beam lit up. “You didn’t lose any money,” Andres smiled as the group cheered. Seconds later, a second beam appeared. “Four matches! Can you get to five??”

The group chanted five as they waited in anticipation for the fifth beam; however, yet again, the lights came up, leaving everyone confused. How were they still here at week 7?!

“You’re halfway there…. at week 7,” Andres shook his head in sadness. “I beg you all to play this game with your hearts. To be open minded and to not let petty jealousies or rivalries be the reason you lose one million euros. You’re all smarter than this,” he looked at the group and saw Daniel struggling to tie his shoe. “Well, most of you…”

Raquel looked over at Sofia who was staring back at her in what appeared to be the first vulnerable look she’d ever seen from her. Her eyes filled with sadness and her hands nervously clutching the back of the empty chair in front of her. Raquel wondered if there was something more to this fabricated rivalry between them or if she was  _ that  _ good of an actress,

After Andres’ final ‘inspirational’ speech, the cameras were turned off. Everyone was instructed to stay where they were until the equipment had been cleared and the house boarded up. As the team was packing away the equipment, Andres walked up to Raquel who was standing on her own, staring at the four beams with the sinking feeling that they would have to do this all again in a week.

“You are all very bad at this game,” Andres said in an attempt to break the ice.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Raquel rolled her eyes, still focused on the beams of light.

“Usually,” he nodded in agreement, “But I’m sorry for what happened with Sofia.”

“Are you?” Raquel questioned skeptically.

“I swear on my mother’s grave,” he promised. “Between you and me, I’ll say there may be some regrets with casting her on the show.”

“I'm not buying it; she makes for good TV…” Raquel rolled her eyes in disbelief. What was he trying to do?

“It does make for good TV, but bad for my digestion,” he confessed, his tone still playful until the next sentence flew out of his mouth like a fly zooming into a bright light. “Speaking of good TV, are you using my brother for the show?”

“Are  _ you  _ using your brother for the show?” Raquel quickly snapped back.

Andres paused for a moment, amused by her quick response. “I like you.”

“I don’t like you,” Raquel responded quickly. “Especially not after today.”

"You wound me, Raquel,” Andres frowned. “Right in the heart,” he pointed to his chest to emphasize his pain.

“Cut the shit,” Raquel rolled her eyes.

“Look, I know I’m an acquired taste, but if you’re serious about my brother, you’ll get the luxury of tasting me a lot more often. And after a while, I know you’ll like it.”

“You’re disgusting,” Raquel frowned..

Andres laughed while looking over at Sergio who was staring at the two of them; he swore he could see dagger’s shooting through his brother’s eyes at him. 

“I ask because this is the first time I’ve ever seen my brother happy. I’ve tried for years to get him to enjoy life. Fall in love. See the world in colour.”

Raquel softened when she heard the word ‘colour’, understanding where Sergio got the analogy from. 

“I had at least hoped this show would give him a few friends, but I never expected he’d fall in love,” Andres remarked. It was the first genuine smile Raquel had seen from him, relieved that some of his jackassery was an act. “But if you’re just going to hurt him…”

“I’m not with him because of the show,” Raquel reassured. “He’s brought colour to my life too.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Andres breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t think he’d be able to handle the heartbreak if you were using him.”

“I would never-”

“Hey,” Sergio interrupted, looking to see if there were any cameras around before putting an arm around Raquel reassuringly. Andres could only smirk at the implication of his brother’s nonverbal cue. 

But what convinced him of Raquel’s feelings was the way she automatically relaxed in his arms, the tension she’d just exhibited next to him in her shoulders completely washed away by the touch of his brother. They balanced each other.

“Are you okay?” Sergio asked her, completely ignoring Andres’ presence.

“I’m fine,” She attempted to smile reassuringly.

“Sofia never should have-”

“Can we not talk about her?” Raquel pleaded. 

“Of course,” Sergio agreed, running his hand up and down her back. He then looked at his brother who was watching them as if they both had two heads. “What?”

“Nothing,” Andres held back a smile. 

“Andres...:”

“I’m just waiting for my thank you….” he replied coyly.

“You’re what?” 

“Come on, brother. I’m the reason for this,” He gestured to the couple in front of him. “And I plan to collect my ‘thank you’ from you.”

“Fuck off,” Sergio rolled his eyes. 

“Do you see this abuse I get, Raquel?” Andres whined to the smaller woman tucked into Sergio’s side. “He’s ungrateful.”

“You’re so full of shit that that even your plunger can’t save you…” Raquel replied.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Andres grinned. “It’s two against one now.”

“I know you think I’m some evil mastermind,” Andres addressed Sergio, “but I promise you I only wanted what was best for you…”

“You wanted to laugh at me.”

“Well, what kind of brother would I be if I didn’t want to at least laugh a little at my nerdy brother?”

“Are we done?” Sergio asked, losing patience over this ridiculous conversation.

“Yes, it looks like it’s my cue to leave anyway,” Andres smiled sadly when he saw his team waving him over to the van. His eyes softened when he saw Sergio take Raquel’s hand, leading her towards the house without another word. “I’m still waiting for my ‘thank you!’. And I promise I’ll only say ‘I told you so’ for ten years at most.”

He laughed until Sergio stopped, saying something to Raquel before she walked towards the house without him. 

Sergio turned around and walked back towards Andres. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“What was that?!” Andres ginned. 

“You heard me…” he mumbled before walking back towards the house, leaving Andres utterly shocked. 

“You’re welcome,” he whispered to himself, genuinely grinning when he saw Sergio entering the house with the hint of a smile on his face. He had to admit, he was really going to enjoy this “in love” version of Sergio. 

* * *

“Well, that match-up ceremony sucked again,” Agata sighed while pouring eleven shots for the remaining contestants.

“We really need to pull it together,” Julia added while grabbing a shot glass from the kitchen counter.

“We will,” Helsinki smiled encouragingly. “We still have three more chances, and we can do this.”

“As long as we all behave,” Alicia glared at Sofia who was standing quietly in the corner, feeling the animosity towards her from the group over her outburst.

“And follow Sergio’s strategy,” Julia smiled at the man who was standing stiffly, smelling the shot glass in disgust. 

“I put some Fireball in there,” Agata laughed. “And a few other surprises,” she smirked.

“It smells disgusting,” Raquel grimaced.

“But it’ll go down smoother than a baby swimming in oil…” Agata grinned while lifting her glass in the air.

“What?” Raquel asked, confused over the visual. Before she could continue, she noticed that there was one contestant without a shot glass. “Wait, where is Sofia’s shot?”

“She doesn’t get one,” Agata shrugged. “This is for family only.”

“Por la familia!” Helsinki raised his glass but Raquel yelled for everyone to stop. 

“Let’s not do this,” she shook her head, running to the table and pouring the rest of Agata’s concoction in a shot glass, passing it to Sofia. “Here…”

“I don’t want it,” she frowned. 

“Stop playing the victim and take the fucking shot,” Raquel commanded, leaving the younger girl speechless. 

“You’re such a mom, Raquel,” Alicia rolled her eyes over the display. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

“We were both in the wrong tonight,” Raquel replied. “And we both said things that hurt each other. So let’s put this behind us for one night and get drunk.:

“HEAR HEAR!” Agata yelled. “We all may be dysfunctional as fuck, but we are a family. Those really fucked up families who should be on daytime talk shows like Jerry Springer, but still a family…. Oh, or a family who…”

“Can we just drink?!” Martin interrupted.

“Fine, to this crazy family. May we one day get our shit together and win one million euros.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Alicia yelled as everyone raised their glasses, downing the shot. Most of the group choking over how disgusting the concoction was.

“What was that?!” Raquel asked as her eyes watered over how much it burned. 

“I call it Nairobi Moonshine,” the younger girl grinned. “Good, right?”

“No,” Raquel frowned. “That was offensive.”

“Thank you,” Agata grinned while taking everyone’s shot glass. “Another?”

Everyone quickly disagreed and ran off. “More for me then,” Agata shrugged. 

**/ /**

A few hours later, the house had settled, the majority of the group sitting together in the living room area talking about the game and what they could do to improve in future weeks. Losing this money could not be an option was basically the only thing they could all agree with.

Raquel used this rare moment of peace to organize her belongings in the large communal closet. Cleaning and organization had always been her way of dealing with stress, and she couldn’t get Sofia’s words out of her head. She felt like a terrible mother. Being here without Paula, unsure of whether her daughter was okay or even missed her was eating away at her. She wondered if she was happy at camp this week, knowing her mood was often a rollercoaster, changing nearly every hour depending on what she was doing. With the storm warnings tonight, they had told her they needed to move their weekly call to tomorrow which was another strike to the heart she didn’t need right now. 

“Hi,” Sofia greeted tentatively while Raquel separated her dirty clothes into separate piles to be laundered. When Raquel immediately tensed by the sound of her voice, she added, “I come in peace.”

“Okay,” Raquel nodded while not losing her rhythm of organizing her clothes. 

“Thank you for including me before…” Sofia continued while playing with her fingers nervously. “And I’m sorry…”

“Where are the cameras this time?” Raquel asked in disbelief. “Is this supposed to be your redemption arc?”

“No cameras,” Sofia denied. “Alicia talked to me…”

“What threat did you get?” Raquel questioned, amused by her crazy friend.

“She would decapitate me and put my head in a large jar of wine in her cellar as a trophy.”

“That’s…. disgusting,” Raquel gagged.

“I got so consumed by the fact the cameras were rarely on me for the first few weeks that I….”

“You decided to give yourself a storyline…”

“Yours and Sergio’s love story is all the crew talks about,” Sofia sighed. “And it’s frustrating because there are still ten of us in here trying to play this game…”

“I have no control-”

“I know,” Sofia nodded, moving closer to the woman in front of her. “I hope you can forgive me…” she pleaded while taking a white shirt from Raquel and placing it in her ‘whites’ pile. 

“Fine,” Raquel shrugged, completely out of patience for this woman’s antics. “If that’s what you need…”

Sofia moved to take Raquel’s hand in hers. “Can we start over?”

Raquel looked down at their joined hands in confusion. What was happening?

“Start over?”

“I’m Sofia,” the younger woman smiled shyly, “I own my own business and I like making my own bread.”

Raquel sighed, skeptical over where she was going with this but decided to give in, “Fine. I’m Raquel. I’m a police officer and I can kill someone in 10 ways with just my hands,” she warned.

“Hot,” Sofia smirked, pulling Raquel closer to her in what appeared to be an attempt to kiss her.

“Sofia,” Raquel warned, pushing her away and taking her hand from hers as if burned by the contact. “What are you doing?”

“You know what they say, there is a thin line between love and hate,” she whispered, lunging herself towards Raquel. The older woman, however, had the reflexes of a cat and moved away causing Sofia to stumble over a pile of her clothes.

“Let me guess,” Raquel helped Sofia up roughly. “This was your way of trying to make a move on me so you can tell Sergio I cheated on him.”

“Or maybe I’m secretly in love with you,” Sofia laughed, unable to keep up the charade.

“What’s going on?” Alicia asked, interrupting the two women. 

“Sofia’s pretending to be in love with me now,” Raquel rolled her eyes while finishing up organizing her space.

“Can we just lock her in here tonight?” Alicia whined. 

“She’s all yours,” Raquel gestured to her while picking up her three laundry bags. “I didn’t see anything and I’m done trying…”

“Don’t forget what I said, Raquel.” Sofia warned while Raquel was walking out of the room. “I will get what I want.”

“And so will we,” Alicia smirked, running out of the room and putting a metal chair against the door knob, effectively locking her in. “Ahhh…. A night of peace,” Alicia grinned. “And if you want to use your tongue to thank me, I won’t complain,” she wiggled her eyebrows at Raquel who was standing in the hallway in shock.

Raquel looked back at the door she could hear Sofia trying to open without any success while taking Alicia’s hand in hers, leaving a wet kiss on the back of it. “Thank you for always having my back.”

“Of course,” Alicia grinned, “But next time I’ll specify where I want that tongue.”

“Don’t push it,” Raquel warned playfully.

“Did you not hear me? I want  _ you  _ to push it. In me,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Maybe you should ask Agata?” Raquel responded while placing her clothes next to the laundry room for the staff. 

Alicia quickly took Raquel’s hand and led her into the “boom boom room”, closing the door behind her.

“What did you mean by that?” Alicia asked nervously.

“I just thought you two were getting along…” Raquel attempted to look confused.

“How would you know that?”

“Know what?” 

“Nothing,” Alicia answered.

“So… nothing? You did choose her as your perfect match.”

“That was because of math.”

“Math…”

“Yes, you know those numbers your boyfriend is always going on about. I guess sometimes he makes sense but don’t tell him that or else I’ll have to kill you...”

“Boyfriend?”

Alicia stopped for a moment, realizing her own slip up. “Did I say boyfriend? I meant-”

“What do _you_ know?” Raquel asked, interrupting whatever lie she was about to formulate in that wacky brain of hers.

“Nothing!” Alicia quickly denied. “What do  _ you  _ know?!”

“Nothing,” Raquel responded. “So you and Agata are?”

“Nothing…” Alicia replied. “And you and Sergio?

“Nothing.”

“Okay, so we’ve both got nothing.”

“Looks like it.”

“You know,” Alicia suggested. “Since we both have two nothings. And we’re in the sex room, maybe we should…”

“Okay,” Raquel replied, testing Alicia’s limits. 

“Que?”

“Sure, let’s do it,” Raquel shrugged. 

“You want to…” Alicia gulped while looking at the bed.

“I should thank you for locking Sofia in the closet properly,” Raquel licked her lips for added effect.

“Uh…that’s…” Alicia stumbled over her words as she backed away from Raquel, tripping and falling onto the bed.

“So how do we want to do this? Should I just get naked or-?” Raquel asked, removing her light sweater.

“You saw us…” Alicia quickly summarized in frustration, seeing through this act.

“It’s a possibility…”

“Fuck…”

“And you saw…”

“A lot,” Alicia confessed. “I’ll be staying out of that hot tub from now on.”

“Fuck…”

“You did,” Alicia laughed.

“I hate you.”

“So, if I said yes, would you have slept with me.”

“No, but I knew you wouldn’t go through with it….” Raquel smiled.

“How?!”

“Because you look at Agata the same way I look at Sergio. Welcome to falling in love on a TV show. Spoiler alert: it's amazing and it sucks.”

“Raquel, what am I going to do?” Alicia asked, her tone denoting just how scared she was by these new feelings.

“You do what feels right,” Raquel reassured her. “Don’t ignore those butterflies you get when you see her walk into a room,” she smiled, loving to see her friend be so vulnerable.

“You won’t tell anyone, right?” Alicia asked softly, scared that Raquel would get her back for exposing her and Sergio after their first night together.

“Of course not,” Raquel promised. “And you won’t-

“You and Sergio are our dirty little secret.”

“Good.”

“Just as dirty as when you humped him in the-”

“Alicia!”

“What?! I’ve been without porn for months. It got us off.”

“Eww! Stop right now.”

“Agata even cummed just by me whispering everything that happened in her-”

“We’re done.”

“Her pussy.”

“ALICIA!”

“Now, I’m done,” the redhead smiled sweetly. “Oh and if anyone asks, you and I hooked up in here. It’s not good for my image to leave the boom boom room without at least three orgasms.”

“You’re insane.”

“Correct.”

“Will you ever tell me what happened with Agata?”

“Will you tell me what happened with Sergio?”

“Well-” as she was about to answer, the power turned off followed by a loud burst of thunder. “Another time?” she asked, realizing that the storm was currently at its full strength. 

“Take my hand,” Alicia instructed. “We should get back downstairs.”

As the two women slowly used the wall as a guide to lead them through the dark hallway to the stairs, Raquel could hear Sofia’s banging from across the hallway. “Should we let her out?”

“Nah….” They both laughed as they worked together to walk down the dark stairs.

* * *

“I’m not a Twink!” Martin argued as the rest of the group were attempting to light candles to bring some light in the kitchen and living room. 

“You are,” Suarez laughed.

“What’s on your Grindr then?” Helsinki asked, confused. “I’m a bear,” he grinned.

“Bear?! No, you’re a tiger, Helsi,” Agata grinned.

“Sorry honey, but the gay men are talking,” Martin patronizingly informed her while burning himself with a match. “Fuck!”

“That was deserved,” Julia rolled her eyes. “I never understood all of these terms.”

“It’s gay subculture. How we categorize each other. Sergio, for instance, would be an Otter or a Geek.” Martin explained. “And I’m not a Twink!”

“Denial,” Suarez cackled.

“Shut up, Bull,” Martin seethed. 

“Hey, I’m a proud Bull. And sometimes this Bull doesn’t mind a Twink.”

“So what are you then?” Agata asked, growing more and more disgusted by their flirting – if you could call it that.

“The Daddy™ ”

“You wish...” Suarez laughed.

“I have an idea! Can you tell us what we’d all be in gay subculture?” Agata asked as she watched Raquel and Alicia walk into the room, still giggling over their disastrous attempt at walking down the stairs. “What’s so funny?”

“Alicia almost killed me on the stairs,” Raquel laughed.

“Please! I saved your life when you nearly fell on your ass…”

“Because you pushed me!” Raquel exclaimed.

“She’s lying,” Alicia addressed the group. “It was a little pat to tell her to move faster…”

“What are you all talking about?” Raquel shook her head in amusement, not wanting to have this fight again with Alicia in front of an audience.

“Martin was just about to tell us our gay animal labels,” Agata smiled, looking at Martin who was lighting a candle on the kitchen counter.

“No, I was not. It’s for men only,” Martin denied. 

“So it’s a manly thing to call each other by animal names?” Agata asked. 

“Yes,” Martin confirmed. 

“That’s stupid,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “And by the way, I’m a Daddy.”

“I agree with that,” Suarez nodded, seated on the couch as he watched everyone else attempting to light candles around the room.

“Fuck off,” Martin rolled his eyes.

“What am I?” Raquel asked, curiously but instantly regretting giving into this conversation.

“You’re an Otter, sweetie.” Alicia soothed. “No wonder you’re attracted to the Geek. You find intelligence sexy.”

“A sapiosexual,” Sergio defined while lighting a candle on the other side of the kitchen island.

“You’re a sap,” Alicia snapped back in offense.

“No, he’s a simp,” Martin corrected.

“What language are we talking?!” Raquel demanded.

“The language of homosexual, darling. Can you handle it?” Martin teased.

“A sapiosexual is someone who finds intelligence arousing,” Sergio continued, ignoring everyone.

“Please never say the word ‘arousing’ again’,” Martin gagged. 

“Helsinki just whispered that I’m an Otter with some Bull tendencies and I don’t know what that means, but I like it!!” Agata smiled. “So… what are we going to do tonight?”

“Looks like we have a camera-free night,” Julia observed as the limited staff set themselves up in the security room, giving the group their first night of privacy. 

“So… an orgy?” Alicia offered,

“I’m down,” Suarez shrugged.

“No!” Raquel yelled. 

“I was JOKING,” Alicia laughed yet stopped while looking at the group who was silently looking around. “Unless…”

“Please stop,” Martin gagged. “The thought of a vagina near me is scarier than every horror movie combined…”

“Scared you’ll get cooties?” Alicia taunted.

“Among other things,” Martin shuttered.

“Can we stop talking about this?!” Agata interrupted. “Marseilles, you have been quiet…”

“I’m down for an orgy,” He shrugged. 

“LA LA LA LA” Agata covered her ears. 

“I’m going to get myself a drink,” Raquel muttered. “A stiff one…”

“I’m stiff right now,” Marseilles suggested.

“I’ll join you,” Sergio quickly chimed in, taking her hand in his and far away from this group of sex deprived animals.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say his, but I think I prefer the cameras being on.” Raquel commented in disbelief over how crazy that conversation was getting.

“I agree,” Sergio laughed nervously but then turned his attention to her, hating that he still hadn’t been able to talk to her since the disastrous match-up ceremony. “How are you? I know you wanted some space, but…”

“I’m good.”

Sergio watched as she poured far too much sangria in her glass.

“Okay, I’m not good. But there’s nothing we can do about it tonight,” Raquel sighed, taking a large sip of her drink. “I’ll be better when I see my daughter’s face tomorrow.”

“Sofia was out of line…:”

“Which time?”

“At the match-up ceremony… did something else happen?” Sergio asked as he watched her take another gulp of her drink.

“WE ARE PLAYING NEVER HAVE I EVER!!!” Agata yelled, “Bring my moonshine!”

“Let’s go play…” Raquel half smiled while picking up the jug of “moonshine”.

“Are you sure? We can go upstairs and talk…or not talk and sit in silence. Whatever you want,” Sergio offered.

“No,” Raquel replied, placing her hand over his in gratitude for how caring he was. “You’re sweet, but I don’t want to feel sorry for myself tonight. Let’s have some fun….”

“This isn’t really my definition of fun,” Sergio winced when he heard Agata yell again.

“I know,” Raquel smiled sympathetically. “If you want to sit this one out, I understand.”

Sergio took her hand in response, threading their fingers and bringing it up to his lips kissing her hand lightly. “No, I want to be here with you,” he smiled. “What is this game by the way?”

“It’s a lot of personal questions,” Raquel smiled, bringing their joined hands to her lips and kissing his hand the same way he just did seconds ago, “You’ll hate it, but I’ll protect you.”

“There you both are!” Agata yelled happily, “Take a seat!” she gestured to the open space on the floor in front of her. “The game is simple. When it’s your turn, you tell the group something you’ve never done before, and anyone who has done it has to take a sip of their drink.”

“Oh no,” Sergio whispered to himself.

“Oh yes,” Alicia grinned from across the circle. “I bet you are super freaky, professor.”

“I’ll start,” Agata grinned. “Never have I ever punched someone while in this house…drink up Serquel!!”

“Serquel?” Raquel asked.

“It’s going to be your ship name.”

“I’m not getting a boat…” Sergio responded, confused. 

“NO! Not ship… your relationship name!! Ser for Sergio. Quel for Raquel. You put it together and it’s SERQUEL.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Sergio frowned.

“You’ll seeee” Agata grinned. “And drink up punchies!”

As Sergio and Raquel took a sip of their drinks, for her a glass of sangria and Sergio a glass of scotch (neat), Alicia looked around the circle. “Hey, where is the annoying couple?”

“Who?”

“Laughs like an idiot and the one far out of his league so probably hates herself,” Alicia elaborated.

“Daniel and Monica?” Raquel questioned.

“Yes!”

“That was rude,” Agata laughed over the description.

Martin grinned, “Cameras are off, so my guess is Daniel doesn’t have to stare at the mayonnaise jar longingly anymore…”

“Ew!” Agata smacked him. “But yay! I’m glad they’re finally screwing, I swear I caught Daniel humping the couch yesterday in his sleep.”

“Can we get back to the game?!” Raquel begged, not wanting to talk about her friend's sex life.

"I'll go,” Alicia grinned. “Never have I ever had more than eight orgasms in one night.”

When Raquel was the only one to drink, Alicia gasped. “WHO?! WHERE?! I WANT DETAILS!!” 

“That’s not the game,” Raquel blushed into her glass while Sergio was pretending to find something really interesting on the carpet by his sock.

“I’m going again,” Alicia grinned wickedly. “Never have I ever had more than eight orgasms in a row DURING THE FILMING OF THIS SHOW”

“Fuck,” Raquel muttered under her breath. They were barely two minutes in the game, and she was already being exposed. Raquel brought the glass to her mouth and took a quick sip.

“SERGIO?!” Alicia screeched. “This guy sitting right here? Next to you? With the glasses? And walks like a penguin? Runs like an ostrich? THAT GUY GAVE YOU MORE THAN EIGHT ORGASMS IN A NIGHT?! I need a minute to process this….”

“Sergio,” Marseilles held up his cup in appreciation. 

“Shit Sergio,” Suarez smiled in disbelief. “I almost need to take back every bad thing I have said about you.”

“Is he really that good?” Alicia asked, still in complete shock.

“Oh come on!” Sergio groaned. “Can we move on from this?”

“Yes,” Raquel nodded, holding in a smile to appear like she was just as upset as Sergio but hoping the group caught on to her double meaning.

“YES QUEEEEN!!” Agata jumped up and ran over to hug Raquel. “This moment is the most beautiful moment of this entire summer.”

“How many orgasms?” Alicia asked, still trying to formulate how this is possible in her mind.

“Next person!” Raquel announced and when everyone was facing Martin, Raquel lifted 10 fingers to show Alicia.

“TEN?!” She screeched again, halting the game for a moment.

“Raquel!” Sergio’s eyes widened, his face growing redder by the second.

“But we’re not together,” Raquel slurred slightly, the quick gulps of sangria hitting her quicker than normal.

“I may have misjudged you, Sergio.” Alicia continued to look at the two in disbelief. 

“My turn,” Martin rolled his eyes over the focus on gross hetero sex. “Never have I ever been arrested.”

Helsinki was the first to bring his drink to his lips, followed by Suarez and then Sergio…

“Sergio!” Alicia’s eyes widened. 

“When?!” Raquel looked at Sergio with the same surprised look over her face.

“I was part of a protest that got out of control in college, and I may have hit a cop…” He confessed, wincing over the glare he felt from Raquel as he said it.

“Sergio!! I’m a cop!” Raquel drunkenly pointed out the obvious, causing the group to laugh.

“I’m sorry, I was angry at the whole system and hated authority. I let myself lose control...”

“Sergio,” Alicia interrupted. “I’m suddenly very attracted to you, and I don’t like this feeling at all.”

“Alicia!” Agata laughed. 

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. Sergio, if you ever want to give me ten orgasms while getting arrested, I’ll give you my real phone number.”

“Alicia,” Raquel warned. 

“Sorry,” Alicia looked away for a second, “I totally get it now though.” she looked at the two of them smiling.

“I’ll go next,” Julia interrupted, growing uncomfortable by the weird sexual energy coming from Alicia. “Never have I ever had a threesome…”

Many in the group took a sip of their drinks, but the one that surprised everyone was Raquel. “Raquel!” Agata grinned.

“It was in college,” she attempted to assure the group, namely Sergio who was looking at her uncomfortably.

“Your turn, Sergio. Think of it this way, you can get info on Raquel,” Alicia teased.

“Uhh,” He contemplated how he’d play this. “Never have I ever solved a crossword puzzle in under five minutes.”

Everyone looked at him utterly bored by his contribution to the game. “Who has?!” Agata exclaimed.

“There are many who have. It’s a very interesting skill,” he elaborated.

“Here we are talking about sex, getting arrested, and this joker talks about fucking crossword puzzles. My erection for you is gone,” Alicia rolled her eyes in disgust. “Next!”

Raquel saw all eyes on her as she attempted to think of something she’d never done before. “Never have I ever … cheated on my partner.”

“Never?” Agata asked, impressed.

“No,” Raquel denied. “Even when I was treated horribly, I was always stupidly loyal.”

“Wow…”

When the group saw Sergio taking a sip, Alicia screamed. “SERGIO!!!”

“You have?” Raquel looked at him, her eyes filled with worry. This was a red flag she didn’t see coming.

“It was a long time ago,” Sergio elaborated. “I didn’t even know we were dating.”

“What?” Agata asked. “Please tell me some poor girl didn’t think she was in a relationship with you and you had no clue.”

“For a year,” Sergio winced.

“My boner is suddenly back,” Alicia grinned. “Sergio, you are one colourful jolly rancher under that boring professor exterior.”

“Oh, I remember this story!” Martin laughed and then noticed the group staring at him. “I mean, I remember him telling me about this story,” he corrected. 

“It was my first year working at the university, and there was a Spanish Literature professor who would always be stopping by my classroom, asking me to go out to lunch. She had a brilliant mind, and I loved talking to her about 15th century poetry, especially works from  Juan de Mena and  Íñigo López de Mendoza . In fact, one time…”

“Get on with the story, we don’t care about the poetry,” Alicia interrupted.

“Fine,” Sergio sighed. “But you all should read the Dark Night, it is a wonderful commentary on personal struggle. Nothing physical ever happened between us other than her wrapping her arm around mine a few times and some kisses on the cheek, so I had no idea that all of the time we spent together, she saw as dates and was telling everyone she knew I was her boyfriend.”

“Oh Sergio,” Raquel winced.

“And then my brother asked me to go on a blind date that did get a little physical and she found out…”

“Oh no,” Agata winced. “But how did she think you were both together if your dick never…”

“Agata!” Raquel put her hand up, “Not all relationships are physical from the start.”

“But a YEAR?! That woman was living in a fantasy.”

“No,” Sergio denied. “I led her on. My brother explained it to me after it was too late, and I tried to apologize, but she was so embarrassed that she transferred to another university, and I never heard from her again.”

“Wow,” Raquel let out a deep breath. “That’s…”

“A total red flag.” Alicia grinned playfully. “Sergio, call me.”

“Nice to see that even the ‘good guys’ are jerks,” Suarez added. “At least I don’t hide it.”

“You definitely don’t,” Raquel rolled her eyes. 

“My turn,” Suarez grinned. “Never have I ever filmed myself having sex…”

When the majority took a sip of their drinks, including Raquel, Sergio let out a slow, unsteady breath. This game was teaching him a lot about her history, and he hated to admit he was growing uncomfortable by how sexually experienced she was in comparison to him. 

“I’ll go again,” Martin grinned. “Never have I ever gone down on a woman…” he shuddered in disgust as he said it.

Everyone in the circle took a drink, except for Helsinki and Martin who clearly had never touched women in their lives. “Sergio?!” Martin asked. “I seem to remember you telling me at the beginning of this game you’d never done that before.”

“No, I told you I had done it once,” Sergio corrected, also slightly slurring his words as the alcohol was slowly breaking down his filter. 

“Oh right,” Martin remembered. “And you hated it.”

“I did that time, yes.” Sergio nodded, the truth leaving his lips before he could acknowledge the meaning of his words.

“And now you love it?” Martin grimaced.

“I didn’t say that….”

“You don’t?!” Raquel asked without even thinking about their audience. “But you’re so good at it.”

“Raquel!” Agata squealed. “I love it when you’re drunk.”

“Raquel,” Sergio whispered, trying to control the blush on his cheeks.

“Oh shit,” Raquel winced.

“I’ll go next,” Julia laughed over how quiet the room had gotten after Raquel’s outburst. “Never have I ever cheated on a test.”

Sergio gasped when Raquel took a sip of her drink.

“Listen,” she started drunkenly, “I cheated on a test and you got arrested – are we even for disrespecting each other’s professions?”

“We’re even,” Sergio laughed, growing more and more amused over how drunk she was. 

“El profesor and la inspectora, you are both an interesting couple all of a sudden,” Marseilles laughed.

“We’re just friends,” Raquel slurred in an attempt to keep their cover.

Everyone looked at Marseille next, “Oh right,” he smiled remembering the game. “Never have I ever shaved my or someone else’s dick.”

“Come on man,” Agata groaned while taking a drink with Raquel, Alicia, Suarez and Martin. 

“Ouch,” Helsinki grimaced. “I tried once but it was like shaving a plastic bag.”

“Yes,” Raquel agreed passionately “And it kept flopping around when I did it for my ex.”

“Penises are crazy,” Agata laughed at her memory.

“And it’s why we love them,” Martin grinned.

“You’re nasty,” Agata gagged. “Ok my turn again,” she smiled evilly at Raquel and Sergio, “Never have I ever lied about being in a relationship in this house.”

“You better drink too,” Raquel pointed to her glass while taking a large sip of her drink. When she looked at the space next to her, she noticed that Sergio had left. “Shit,” she slurred. “I never took a drink. You saw nothing,” she slurred while stumbling towards the kitchen.

“Did they really think we didn’t know?” Martin laughed.

“For a smart couple, they can be really dumb,” Suarez shook his head in disbelief.

**/ /**

“Sergio!” Raquel whispered. “Ow!! Fucking fuck!” She yelled as she stubbed her toe on what felt like a table. “It’s dark, where are you?”

“Raquel?” Sergio asked, using a candle to find her by the kitchen island. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for you,” she admitted. “And hurting my toe,” she groaned in pain.

“You should go back to the game,” he said.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked slowly. The tone of her voice piercing through his heart.

“No, why would you think that?”

“You left right when I may have accidentally outed our relationship.”

Sergio sighed, not being able to hold in his own insecurities with her staring at him with those big beautiful eyes. “I’m worried…” he confessed. 

“About what everyone will think? Sergio, I doubt they care…”

“Not about that,” he denied. “Did you ever read  _ Don Juan? _ ”

“Sergio, please don’t try and use a piece of literature to say what you’re feeling. What’s going on?” She asked, growing more worried over how cryptic he was being.

“We never talked about our past experiences before…”

“No, we haven’t,” Raquel agreed but then realized he was having the same issue nearly every man in her life had with her past. “You think I’m a slut.”

“What?! No! Of course not,” Sergio denied.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had this conversation, Sergio. Yes, I had a wild few years in college. Yes, I have had two serious girlfriends. And yes, I have been with a few people at the same time.” She explained like she’d rehearsed this conversation many times. “I’m not some pure virgin from a Shakespeare tragedy or Don Juan’s girl…  Doña Inés.”

“None of that bothers me,” Sergio attempted to clarify. “I’m just worried that my history isn’t…”

“Isn’t what? Enough for me?”

“Yes…” he confessed. “I’m not the type to have threesomes or film myself. I can be really shy… and…before you, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had sex. Total times. I never thought I could enjoy it...”

"Sergio,” Raquel’s eyes softened in the dark, “You have nothing to prove to me. I don’t care about your past experiences or lack thereof. I only care about you,”

“Are you sure?” he asked, and her heart broke over the vulnerability she heard in his voice. The fear behind asking her such an intimate question.

“When I was in my 20s, I thought I had something to prove. I thought I needed to have the wildest stories and be part of the most interesting experiences to fit in. And sure, some of that was fun, but a lot of it wasn’t. When I was filmed? My ex leaked it on a message board when I dumped him for cheating on me. The threesome? The other girl accidentally kicked me in the face because we didn’t know how to handle so many limbs. One of my girlfriends? I thought she was the one and found out she had been cheating on me during our entire relationship. And that was after spending two years with her and telling my parents she and I were going to get married. My dad didn’t talk to me for a year because I was a lesbeana...”

“I’m so sorry…”

“In my marriage, I faked about 90% of my orgasms. You are the first person I’ve been with in 10 years who makes me feel sexy. Who can make me wet with just one look… That look,” she whispered to him, taking his hand and putting it over her sweatpants. “You feel that heat? It’s because of  _ you.” _

“Raquel,” Sergio blushed. “Everyone is behind that wall.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to be quiet for once,” she whispered, the smell of sangria on her breath invading his senses. He knew he should stop this, but when she slowly put his hand into her sweatpants, over her underwear, he was at the point of no return.

“I’m sorry I made you think…”

She thrusted herself into his hand, “Honestly? I’m a little turned on by the fact you’re the insecure one for once.”

“That shouldn’t turn you on,” Sergio laughed awkwardly as she continued to thrust herself onto his still hand.

“I know,” she moaned as she felt a wave of pleasure slowly make its way through her. “But no one has ever cared about me the way you have. Cared about what they thought I needed sexually….”

Sergio moved his hand slightly to cup her whole centre. “Of course I care…”

“You’re the man who gave me 10 orgasms last night,” she whispered, squeaking when she felt him moving her underwear to the side to feel how wet she was.

“For me?” He asked, tentatively.

“Only you,” she confirmed. “And sometimes Jennifer Lopez, but don’t tell her,” she joked.

Sergio couldn’t help but laugh, “I’ll have to give her a call and tell her to stay away from you…”

His two fingers moved in a clockwise circle around her clit, moving slowly and deliberately in the way he knew drove her completely insane. “About the cheating...” she whispered.

“What about it?”

“First? You need to call that woman and give her a long overdue apology,” she instructed as she thrust into his tortuously slow moving fingers.

“Okay,” he easily agreed, knowing he’d agree to anything she asked of him at this moment, not caring about the power she held over him.

“And second, we are in a relationship. So no double dates with your brother…” She warned playfully. 

“And here I thought we were just friends,” he repeated her words from earlier, quickening the pace of his fingers around her clit teasingly.

“No,” she moaned, feeling herself getting closer to reaching her peak. “Friends don’t put their hands down their friends’ pants.”

“Raquel,” he whispered as she was getting lost in the feelings of his fingers. “I would never do that to you. I wasn’t attracted to Melanie. That is her name. I liked her mind and talking to her about academia, but I never wanted to kiss her,” he demonstrated by kissing her on the cheek, leaving a trail of kisses to her mouth that was open as she was attempting to control her breathing to stop from moaning for everyone to hear. “I never wanted to touch her, feel her cum on my hands,” he whispered, quickening the movement of his fingers once again until she was nipping at his shoulder to control her moans. “Let go, babe,” he whispered in her ear before wrapping his mouth around it.

“Sergio,” she gasped, feeling herself spasm on his hand, the feeling of her orgasm so powerful it reaching the back of her throat. She immediately captured his lips into a passionate kiss, her tongue finding his, loving the way he tasted of scotch and mint. “Please don’t be scared of my past,” she begged, her lips still hovering over his and his hands still in her pants lightly stroking her through her post orgasm tension. 

“As long as you don’t judge mine,” he responded, leaving a delicate kiss on her lips.

“Never,” Raquel promised. “As much as I hate that game, I’m really glad we had this talk.”

“Me too,” Sergio admitted, his fingers still light caressing her wet folds, not ready to leave her warmth.

“And I’m really glad I got to orgasm while we had it,” she laughed while still catching her breath. 

Sergio removed his hands from her, bringing them to his mouth to clean off before lightly rubbing them on his pants. 

“And I thought you hated that,” she joked, blushing over the way she felt a tingle with how he licked her off of his fingers without hesitation. 

“I guess it’s like trying coffee for the first time. You have to find the right balance of flavours and aroma for you. The first taste can be off putting if it’s not right.”

“You did not just compare my cum to coffee.”

“I did,” he laughed. 

“And you call me crazy,” she teased. 

“Raquel!!!” Alicia yelled from across the room. “Are you both done being pathetic? We’re about to have our final ‘never have I ever’ and everyone needs to join.”

“Come on,” Raquel smiled, taking Sergio’s hand in hers and leading him back to the group. Sergio sat down first and Raquel, no longer caring about what people thought, spread his legs to sit in between them, leaning her chest on his back.

“Friends eh?” Marseilles grumbled at the two.

“Yes, good friends” Raquel laughed when she felt Sergio’s arm wrap around her stomach casually as he placed the other on the floor behind him, holding himself up.

“Oh quit it, it’s obvious you two are still together,” Martin groaned over how disgusting they were together. Hetero couples were the worst. 

“Hey all,” Monica and Daniel smiled at the group. “What are you up to?’ Monica asked.

“We’re playing I Never,” Agata smiled. “What have you two been up to?” she smirked.

“Nothing much…” Monica shrugged.

“How about you Daniel?” Agata asked.

“Just having a great night with my girl,” he grinned, his signature laugh quickly following.

“YOU HAD SEX!” Marseilles grinned. “Congrats buddy!”

“Was he any good?” Alicia asked, still confused over this pairing. 

“Alicia!” Monica blushed. 

“What is up with the weirdest guys in this house being surprise sex gods?” Alicia asked herself in disbelief. 

“Um, hey everyone!” a voice blasted from the kitchen. “Did no one notice I was gone?!” 

“Hi Sofia,” Agata smiled when the younger woman walked into the large living room. “Where have you been?”

“Why don’t you ask Alicia and Raquel,” she glared at the two women, her eyes staying on Raquel for a few moments longer as she watched her snuggle into Sergio.  _ Pathetic. _

Agata looked at the younger woman, confused by her anger and then to Raquel and Alicia who were attempting to hold back laughter. 

“We locked her in the closet,” Alicia busted out laughing, unable to hold it in for a second longer. “She tried to make a fake move on Raquel after everything and she needed a timeout.”

“She what?!” Sergio asked, his voice moving up an octave in surprise.

Raquel could only laugh, unable to find the words to explain what had happened to Sergio.

“Madre mia,” Agata sighed. “Sofia, you need to find some self respect, my friend. What are you doing?”

“Please, as if all of you haven’t had a moment of weakness for Raquel,” she tried to cover for herself, sitting in the circle in between Julia and Helsinki.

“That’s fair,” Agata agreed and many others shrugged in agreement. Even Sergio nodded behind Raquel which resulted in a light slap to his chest. 

“Can we never talk about this again?” the younger woman mumbled, taking a sip from Julia’s beer. 

“Please,” Raquel agreed quickly. “So what is the last Never have I ever?”

“Yes, of course!” Alicia smiled. “Go ahead, Helsinki.”

“Thank you,” he smiled. “Never have I ever fallen in love with someone in this house,” the burly man grinned.

Monica and Daniel were the first to take a sip from the freshly poured drinks in front of them, smiling at each other as they did. Sergio and Raquel, unsurprisingly, took a sip from their drinks, his arm tightening around her as they did, both smiling as the liquid burned their throats.

But the most shocking, however, came from Alicia and Agata who pretended to take a casual sip of their drinks moments after everyone was back to grilling Monica and Daniel about their night together. Raquel, however, didn’t miss the implication and grinned at Alicia who simply shrugged at her. She was really happy for her friends even if they were still in that confusing stage of their relationship. She was elated that both were finding love from someone they never expected to come into their lives – much like her and Sergio. 

* * *

The next morning, an alarm sounded throughout the whole house, waking the contestants from a deep slumber after drinking far too much the previous night.

“Attention everyone! Please get up, get ready and be downstairs in an hour. We have a surprise for you.”

Grudgingly and slowly, the group opened their eyes, annoyed that their freedom from one night off from the cameras had officially come to an end.

Raquel woke up in a familiar place. Sergio’s arms. All it took was alcohol and insecurities for them to forget about their whole plan in favour of spending the night cuddled together again. 

“I really don’t like the sound of this,” Sergio groaned while hugging Raquel’s body closer to his.

“It’s probably nothing. Maybe the relationship coach is back or we’re going somewhere fun,” she offered, a hint of excitement in her eyes. 

“How are you feeling this morning?” He asked while rubbing her back slowly, knowing that last night was just a distraction for her broken heart over being away from Paula.

“I feel a bit better,” Raquel smiled reassuringly. “Because I get to talk to Paula today. Because of you. Thank you,” she whispered her gratitude while leaving a few soft kisses on his neck.

“I’m glad,” he smiled, relieved that he was able to be there for her. Shocked over how much it filled him with joy to see her genuinely smiling again.

“Come on,” she ordered, pulling him out of the warm bed with her. “Let’s deal with today’s idiocy.”

Slowly, the contestants began to trickle into the living room to find Andres and Dr. Perez (the relationship coach), waiting for them smiling. 

“Okay, now I’m a bit scared,” Raquel joked to Sergio as the two of them took a seat next to each other on the couch.

Once everyone was in place, Andres began to address the group. “I guess you’re all wondering what’s going on.” When everyone nodded, he continued. “We decided to help you all out this week and give you a free Truth Booth to find another perfect match before next week’s ceremony. If you get it right, you will have three of eight perfect matches already determined, and it will be a huge advantage for you all. Dr. Perez has reviewed some of the footage and not knowing who the matches are, has selected three potential couples for you all to vote in. Not all of the chosen couples are a perfect match, so vote wisely.”

Raquel could feel her heart sinking in this moment. She knew this was a good twist for the game, but she was worried about the outcome.

Dr. Perez then smiled at the group, “Even though you are all _ terrible _ in the match up ceremonies, we are seeing some really special connections happening between many of you here in the house. I ask you to trust your instincts and get to know that person who you have something in common with or you find intriguing. You can all win this game if you could only stop making critical errors when you’re choosing your perfect matches in front of everyone. That all being said, based on what I’ve observed, the three couples on the screen could be a perfect match. I don’t know for sure, but I’m trusting my gut based on the way I see these people interact. The first is Suarez and Sofia, the second is Helsinki and Martin and the third is Raquel and Julia. Now, the power is all in your hands. I’m told not all of these couples are correct, so vote for who you think it can be based on your own observations.”

“Fuck,” Raquel sighed. 

“What? Sergio asked.”

“I think it’s pretty clear who the perfect match is,” her sighed, feeling a sense of dread of how this was going to end.

“I’m voting Suarez and Sofia,” he whispered to her. “You never know with this game.”

“It would be a miracle if they both left at the same time,” Raquel attempted to smile but knew in her heart that it was highly unlikely that would happen.

Once all of the votes were in, Andres stood in front of the screen again. “The results are in,” he smiled tightly, looking at Sergio apologetically as he took a deep breath. “Raquel and Julia,” he smiled. “Please go to the Truth Booth to see if you’re a perfect match.”

Raquel looked back at Sergio who looked crestfallen over the result. “It’s going to be okay,” she reassured him before following Julia outside and towards the truth booth.

“How are you feeling?” Julia asked.

“Scared,” Raquel replied, wiping her sweaty palms on her shorts before walking inside the booth. The last time she’d been in here, she’d secretly wished for “perfect match” to be written across the screen. Now, she prayed those words didn’t appear. Not only did she not want to leave Sergio, but the guilt of being Julia’s perfect match when her heart belonged to someone else had to be the biggest slap in the face for someone who came into this hoping to find love.

“No matter what, it’ll be fine,” Julia promised. “Please don’t feel guilty for whatever the outcome is. It’s all out of our control.”

“I know,” Raquel nodded, taking a deep breath to mask the sinking feeling she could feel growing stronger in the pit of her stomach.

Soon, the room quieted as the lights flashed over them, pretending to scan their bodies. Raquel and Julia stood woodenly side by side, both hoping for the same result. One that would put them back in the house in search of their elusive perfect matches. 

After a few seconds, the two words they both dreaded appeared on screen.

_ PERFECT MATCH _

“Congrats!” The camera operator smiled. “This means you both get to go to the honeymoon suite! Before you leave, can I get a shot of you both smiling and jumping into each other's arms? The producers want a few different reactions.” he explained, ignoring the look of horror over both women’s faces at the result. 

Raquel and Julia, both always being good sports, did as he asked, giving the show that moment of glee; however, all Raquel could feel was heartbreak. They were going to take her away from Sergio before they had a chance to win this game together. Suddenly, Sofia’s words rang in her head like out of tune church bells,  _ I always get what I want.  _

No wonder she was so calm last night, Raquel realized.. She  _ knew _ what was coming. 

_ Son of a bitch. _

  
**[cheesy voiceover]** Raquel is leaving?! But but but....who is going to keep Sergio warm at night?! Tune in for the next chapter(s) to see if these idiots can win this game in the final weeks and if the star couple can survive living apart.  
  
  
  



	17. Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> I'm back again a week after my last update?! Must be in quarantine again haha. I decided to split this chapter into two parts, so, surprise surprise, I have added one more chapter. But that's it, I promise! There are two chapters left... :(
> 
> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, review and send messages about the last chapter. I can't believe there are still people who are enjoying this story after all this time and after a ridiculous word count, but it has inspired me to want to finish it as quickly as I can. 
> 
> It's another long one... so grab a cookie or maybe some ice cream and booze for this one. And let me know what you think in the comments.

Sergio completed his 15th squat while holding a 35 kg dumbbell in front of his chest, breathing heavily as a combination of the heat from the sun and physical exertion were getting to him. He took a sip of his water, followed by a deep breath while counting down the minute and a half until his final rep.

“Hi Sergio,” Agata greeted tentatively while grabbing the jump rope next to him. “Your form is getting better.”

“Suarez gave me a few tips,” he mumbled while getting back into position to complete his final squats of the day, focusing on putting his weight on his heels, keeping his back straight and breathing out every time he squatted. 

“Not that I’m nosey or anything….” Agata started after he was done and was putting the weights away. She watched as he moved over to the punching bag that hung from the ceiling of their deck. “But this is the fifth time I’ve seen you out here in the last three days. “Are you okay?”

“Never better,” he responded while throwing an uppercut at the large bag.

“Right,” she nodded skeptically, setting her timer to jump rope for one minute while she watched him unleash his frustration on the bag in front of him. “We all miss her,” she said, taking a large drink of water and catching her breath after an intense minute of jumping rope.

“Who?” Sergio asked dumbly while jabbing the bag in twos with his left arm.

“Sergio,” Agata frowned, her eyes softening with sympathy over how much he’d pulled back from everyone in the house, opting to eat meals on his own, work-out, walk on the beach and sleep. She was growing more and more worried that the progress he’d made socially with Raquel by his side was slowly being destroyed because he wasn’t able to express how hurt he felt over the turn of events in the game.

“Physical activity helps provide a sharper mind and memory. I need to be at my best if we want to win this game,” he explained his focus on fitness, ignoring her insinuation about a certain houseguest.

“Is that all this is?” She asked, skeptically. 

“Of course. ‘Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong,’” he recited while changing to a hook, cross and jab pattern.

“What?”

“John F. Kennedy,” he cited, breathing through punches.

“Who?”

“He was president of America in the 1960s. He was assassinated by… it’s not important,” he stopped himself when he saw the same glazed look in her eyes as he did from his students when they talked about statistical analysis in his classes.

“What does he have to do with Raquel?” As she said her name, she could hear a very loud thump from the sound of Sergio’s fist hitting the punching bag at a much faster speed. He was really hurting, she realized.

“Nothing,” he took a deep breath while attempting to shake the pain out of his hand. “I’m trying to win this game.”

“It’s okay to miss her,” Agata walked closer to him, her voice just above a whisper.

“I-” he shifted his focus to the darker haired woman in front of him, the look in her eyes making his stomach turn. “I’m fine.”

“We all saw you both before she left…” Agata reminded him, urging him to finally open up.

* * *

**5 DAYS EARLIER - AFTER THE SURPRISE TRUTH BOOTH**

_ Perfect Match.  _

Sergio looked at the TV screen in front of him, the words perfect match bolded over photos of Raquel and Julia, mocking him as they flashed across the screen. He had been right in the beginning. This game truly was a nightmare.

“Oh shit,” Martin stuttered at the results, shocked the game would remove part of it’s ‘star couple’ so early. What was happening?

For the first time, the contestants were silent over the results, stunned by this turn in events. They should be happy. This was a turning point in the game that would likely lead them to winning that one million euros, but at what cost?

_ Two broken hearts. _

“Yay?” Alicia attempted to say enthusiastically, but it came out as a question once realizing she was losing one of her only friends in this house. 

Only Sofia smirked, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her glee from the group who were still trying to comprehend what had just happened. 

“We should be celebrating,” Suarez smirked, ignoring the mood of his fellow contestants. “We have three of eight matches confirmed. We can win this,” he grinned. 

“Read the room,” Agata rolled her eyes.

Julia and Raquel walked into the house, both shrugging over the results when they saw everyone’s questioning stares.

“Perfect Match!” Raquel attempted to force a smile.

“I’m going to go pack,” Julia sighed, attempting to hide her disappointment over how underwhelming this moment was. It had been her hope that she’d come into the game, fall in love for the first time as her true self, and scream in happiness when it was announced they were a perfect match. Instead, her “perfect match” was dreading the idea of leaving the person who had already captured her heart weeks before she’d even had a chance to get to know her. This was her worst case scenario. 

“Raquel,” Monica pouted, being the first to take her friend’s hands in hers and pulling her into a deep hug. “I’m so sorry, my friend.”

“It’s okay,” Raquel attempted to smile through tears. “This is good for the game. We’re one step closer to winning,” she soothed.

“But I don’t want you to leave,” she whined in her ear.

“I know,” Raquel comforted, rubbing her hands up and down her back, her eyes trying to meet Sergio’s who couldn’t seem to look away from the TV, completely frozen in place.

Agata walked up to the two women, wrapping her arms around them, “This sucks. You’re the glue in this house, Raquel. How can we do this without you?”

Raquel pulled away from the two women. “I’m not the glue,” she denied, shaking her head.

“You are,” Alicia pouted. “You know I can’t talk to most of these idiots without gagging. You’re supposed to be my gag protector!’

Raquel rolled her eyes playfully, “Go get a cucumber and work on that gag reflex,” she joked. “It will be okay, girls. Work with Sergio on the matches. Listen to him, I beg you.”

“Fine,” Alicia grimaced. “I’ll work with him for you. But permission to cut off his fingers when he’s annoying.”

“No.”

“Kick him in the crotch?”

“No,” Raquel laughed.

“Can I at least slap him with a fish?”

“No physical violence,” Raquel warned, pointing at Alicia to make her point clear. “Now, I have to go pack since the producers want us out of the house this afternoon.”

“Why so fast?” Monica pouted. “We usually get one last night together…”

“All part of the twist, I guess,” Raquel shrugged, her body tensing in frustration. She looked at Sergio who was still frozen on the couch, his eyes never leaving the TV that continued to flash the words  _ perfect match.  _ Her heart broke over the thought of leaving him, but in an effort to not break down in front of everyone, she simply tore her eyes from him, took a deep breath and left the room.

“Sergio!” Martin snapped, getting his attention a minute after Raquel had gone upstairs. “Are you really going to let her leave without saying goodbye?!”

**/ /**

“Hi perfect match,” Julia greeted when Raquel joined her in the large closet with a handful of her toiletries.

“I can’t believe it…” Raquel remarked while pulling her freshly cleaned clothes from the closet.

“That I’m you match? she asked, growing more and more offended by Raquel’s lack of enthusiasm. This wasn’t a fucking funeral.

“No,” Raquel quickly denied. “I completely understand why we’re a match,” she reassured. “And I am happy that it’s you if it couldn’t be…”

“Sergio,” Julia filled in when Raquel paused.

She simply nodded and then returned to her earlier statement, “What I was trying to say is that I can’t believe we’re leaving.”

“Oh,” Julia blushed slightly, “It is weird.”

Raquel pulled out her two large suitcases and began folding her clothes, the two women focused on organizing their belongings in a comfortable silence.

“Why did I pack so much?!” Raquel shook her head in disbelief as she organized a pile of clothes she hadn’t yet worn in the house.

“And I barely packed anything,” Julia frowned, zipping up her one bag. “New clothes are expensive,” she shrugged sadly.

“Wow, I never even thought about the cost of a whole new wardrobe after…”

“No one does,” Julia sighed sadly. “I’ve done my best to get things as I go, but my body has changed a lot in the past year…”

“I know we don’t have the same style, but I have bags of clothes that I was planning to donate to a local church. You’re free to look through when we’re back in Madrid…”

“Raquel… I couldn’t…”

“Of course you can! It’s the least I can do for being such a terrible perfect match,” Raquel encouraged. “Please let me help you,” she pleaded.

“Okay,” the younger woman smiled gratefully, lifting up her bag on her shoulder when she noticed Sergio standing awkwardly at the entrance. “I guess this is my cue to go…”

“You don’t have to,” Raquel stopped her.

“It’s okay,” Julia nodded. “You both deserve some privacy, I’ll meet you downstairs,” she smiled while walking to the door and towards Sergio. “She’s all yours,” she patted Sergio’s shoulder sympathetically, leaving the couple alone.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Sergio finally spoke, the first words to come out of his mouth since the perfect match verdict. “This isn’t how the game works. The rules were changed.”

“Sergio…” Raquel attempted to stop him.

“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” he promised. “I don’t know what happened, but I can only assume Sofia is behind this and I’ll-”

“Sergio,” she interrupted again. “Is this really how we want to spend our final minutes together?”

“This shouldn’t be our final minutes,” he frowned. “We need to talk to Andres and-”

“Stop,” she walked up to him, his body still rigid at the doorway while his mind worked harder than a group of ants hauling food 50 times their own body weight across the lawn.

“They can re-film this. We can demand that they remove this ridiculous twist from the show and go back to the game as it’s meant to be played. They can’t change the rules like this. It’s like saying the queen can suddenly move in a zigzag pattern in chess...”

“No, we can’t...” Raquel shook her head in denial.

“Of course we can!” Sergio avoided her eyes as he attempted to formulate a plan in his head. “Andres will be on our side, and I’m sure I can convince Antoñanzas to-”

“Don’t do this,” Raquel shook her head sadly. 

“Why not?” Sergio demanded. “This is completely unfair.”

“Is it?” She challenged. “We learned another perfect match. This is a good thing for the game…”

“But-”

“Sergio, I hate this too. I don’t want to leave you, but I’m done fighting against this game. It’s bigger than both of us. I’m ready to live in a house without cameras, be able to facetime with my daughter more and finally relax for the first time in weeks.”

“Oh,” Sergio sighed, his heart feeling like it was being flattened by a meat press. Rather than continue talking, he moved to her first fully packed suitcase, “I’ll bring this downstairs for you.”

“Sergio…” Raquel attempted to stop him.

“Your car will be here soon,” he said, lifting her suitcase and carrying it out of the room without looking at her.

“Shit…” she sighed. “This wasn’t how she planned to spend their final moments together. 

After getting the rest of her belongings into her second bag, she slowly dragged it out of the closet, taking one last look at the room that held more memories than clothes it seemed.

One of the producers met her at the stairs to take the bag down to the car for her. “We leave in a half hour. They want to film your farewell with Julia now, so I’ll take this,” he offered.

“Ok,” Raquel nodded sadly, slowly forcing her body to walk down the stairs to face her friends. She really hated goodbyes. They were always so maudlin. So difficult. And it always triggered memories of saying goodbye to her dad right before he took his final breaths. 

“Raquel,” Alicia pouted when her friend walked into the living room in a complete daze. “I guess I’m not getting my perfect match smooch from you after all,” she sighed dramatically.

Raquel snapped out of her trance and smiled at her friend, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so happy we became friends here. No one can make me laugh like you do.”

“I could have also got you making other sounds-” 

“Alicia…” she warned.

“I couldn’t let you leave without a little bit of flirting,” she smirked playfully, pulling Raquel into a tighter hug. “This fucking sucks.”

“It really does,” Raquel agreed, her eyes moving to Sergio who was drinking a glass of water next to Martin in the kitchen. Both men standing in silence. “Can you promise me something?”

“Depends.”

“Take care of Sergio.”

“Not that.”

“Alicia,” Raquel pleaded. “You both have more in common than you think,” she tried again. “And he really needs someone to get him out of his head and enjoy his final days in here.”

“Raquel, I would have said yes to almost anything. Cleaning out your attic. Washing your car. Being your sex slave... even being your hitman… but being nice to Sergio?! That is asking a lot…”

“I know,” Raquel playfully soothed. “But he needs someone to get us to victory, to help convince this house to go along with his plan. And you’re the only one who can do it. So please, look out for him. For me.”

“Fine…” Alicia agreed reluctantly. “Can I have sex with him?”

“WHAT?!” Raquel pulled away. “Where did you get that in ANYTHING I just said?!”

“You’re basically asking me to be like you in here, and I think that should include me getting 10 orgasms in a night,” Alicia explained rationally. “For friendship and science, of course.”

“Don’t make me come back here just to murder you while you’re sleeping.”

“God, you’re sexy when you’re threatening me.”

“Alicia,” Raquel’s eyes hardened, losing patience.

“Fine, I’ll look after your nerd. Without orgasms. And I’ll even smile at him once a day.”

“Thank you.”

“But you owe me.”

“Okay.”

“And I always collect my debts.”

“You got it,” Raquel smiled, pulling her into a final hug. “Thank you,” she breathed, smiling gratefully at her friend; the two women giving each other a final nod before Raquel moved over to Monica, Agata, Helsinki and Daniel to give them all goodbye hugs, the cameras following her every move. 

When Suarez went in for a hug, she stepped back. “Nope,” she denied. 

“Bitch,” he scoffed.

Before she could respond, Martin walked over to Raquel and surprised her by giving her a tight hug, “Thank you for loving Sergio,” he whispered in her ear. “I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together here, but you’re okay for a woman,” he praised. 

“Thank you?” Raquel questioned, slightly confused and offended by his attempt at a compliment,

“And don’t worry about Sergio. He’s like a brother to me. I’ll take care of him,” He whispered so only she could hear. “I look forward to getting to know you outside of this hell house.”

“Me too,” she smiled warmly at him, realizing that he was part of Sergio’s circle and that, unfortunately, meant he would be part of hers after all of this. Sergio needed a better group of friends, she concluded.

Sofia was next in the circle around her, putting her arms out to hug her. Reluctantly, Raquel gave into the younger woman’s affection. “I’ll miss you,” she grinned.

“No, you won’t,” Raquel rolled her eyes.

“Okay, you got me there. This is the best day of the game,” she smirked. “And don’t worry, I’ll be there for comfort Sergio when he’s lonely at night,” she mockingly soothed.

“I know you were behind this,” Raquel whispered. “And you may have succeeded in getting me out of here, but if you think you can get in between me and Sergio…”

“Think?” Sofia scoffed. “I know I can.”

“5 minutes!” One of the producers announced. 

“Watch your back,” Raquel warned, leaving the younger woman confused before walking to Sergio who was standing stiffly, his face completely void of any emotion. It worried her that he was seemingly so cold right before her departure. 

“Hey,” she whispered in an attempt to snap him out of this trance. 

“Hi,” he responded stiffly.

“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded. 

“Do what?” 

“Turn our final moment into something awkward…” she pleaded. “I can’t even put into words how much I’m going to miss you,” she teared up.

“Then why won’t you fight this with me?” He asked again, continuing his plea from earlier.

“Because we have to put the game first,” she said sadly. “And I trust you to get us to victory… for you, for me… for my mom…”

Sergio softened slightly when she mentioned her mom, her very reason for being in the house to begin with, but his expression quickly hardened again, “We were supposed to win this together.”

“Sergio…” She teared up, feeling his anger and frustration come out through his words, but, more than that, seeing just how much this was hurting him by how he was withdrawing from her emotionally.

“You should go…” he simply responded, looking at the producers who were motioning for her and Julia to leave the group. 

“Are we really going to leave it like this?” She asked, desperate for him to take her in his arms, hug away her pain and kiss her to assure her that they’d be okay. But, instead, he only shrugged, his eyes focused on a spec of dirt on the wall over her head. ‘Okay then,” she choked out. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she backed away, turning her body to Julia and the producers who were waiting for her.

“Sergio,” Alicia rolled her eyes, annoyed that she already had to be nice to him. “You can’t let her leave like that. Don’t break her heart even more than she’s already hurting...”

Raquel stopped at the front door as the team were preparing to film her and Julia walking to the car.

Finally waking up to the reality of her leaving, Sergio snapped out of his funk like someone waking up after being hypnotized and quickly ran to Raquel, taking her hand in his to stop her from walking out the door. As she was about to protest, his lips crashed onto hers in a desperate kiss. The team moved away from the entrance and chose to surround the couple to capture this moment of passion between their “stars”.

“I love you,” he whispered as his lips glided over hers with urgency, his tongue quickly finding hers to deepen the kiss, not caring about the audience watching them or the three cameras capturing it from every angle possible. “And I’ll keep fighting to win this for both of us. I’ll do everything that I can to make sure you mom can-”

“Thank you,” she whispered on his lips, tears streaming down her cheeks as the two continued to kiss, time standing still as they said goodbye with their tongues gliding together as their lips smacked together messily, their raw emotions removing the usual finesse in their kisses.

“I love you too,” she whispered, breaking away from the kiss and resting her forehead on his cheek. “So fucking much,” she whispered when she noticed his cheeks were also wet with his own tears. 

She wiped the tears from his other cheek comfortingly, smiling up at him, “We’re going to be okay.”

“I know,” he attempted to smile back. 

“Win this game for us,” she whispered, kissing him one last time. 

“I will,” he promised, taking her hand in his as she pulled away to leave, bringing it to his lips before she could break away from him. “I’ll miss you,” he choked out, his words raw as he attempted to hold back a sob that was fighting to free itself from his throat.

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered back, the same lump in her throat, before turning around and leaving the game with her ‘perfect match’.

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

“I’m going to go stretch,” Sergio announced after a few minutes of silence as he thought about how to respond to another one of Agata’s attempts to get him to share his feelings. It was bad enough that he had Alicia smiling at him like a serial killer every morning at 10:08 am on the dot while he was attempting to enjoy his coffee.

“Sergio,” she stopped him. “Fine, if you don’t want to open up, I will. I miss her. Raquel was the one person in here who I could talk to when I needed someone to listen to my issues. And now, without her here, the house feels out of balance and it sucks.”

Sergio simply nodded while sitting on a mat to begin his 15 minute stretch routine. He’d been in physical pain for the past two days with the shock of so much physical exertion on his body and was relieved this was the first day he wasn’t walking like he’d been riding a horse for 15 hours straight.

“And she always gave me the best advice,” she continued, ignoring his silence. “And right now, I could really use some.”

“What about?” Sergio asked reluctantly, giving into the bait while positioning his body into a pigeon pose to stretch out his glutes.

“I have this friend who is completely heartbroken that his person left the house, and he’s not talking to anyone. I’m really worried about him,” she shared, not missing a beat, as she stared at him with a frightening intensity.

Sergio looked down at his legs that were stinging with pain in the stretch he’d been holding the past ten seconds, thinking that the pain was nothing compared to Agata’s attempts to get him to open up. And it wasn’t that he didn’t want to verbalize the myriad of emotions he’d experienced all week as he grieved Raquel’s loss in the house, but he simply didn’t know how to express them in words. Punching a bag, lifting a heavier weight, taking a walk, humming Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in his mind -- those he could handle. They soothed him. These moments, on the other hand, tightened his chest like she was holding a wrench and turning without realizing her own strength.

“Agata…”

“Sergio…” she challenged.

“You’re right,” he finally said, losing the staring battle that had begun between them. “The house feels off balance without her,” confessed softly, looking away while wiping sweat off of his forehead with a towel.

“That’s a start,” Agata smiled sympathetically at the man in front of her who had stopped stretching and was staring at the ocean waves.

“And I miss her,” he finally admitted, his eyes never leaving the body of water, wishing he could immerse himself in it until this game was over,

“Yeah,” Agata nodded, sitting next to him on the grass.

“Yeah…” Sergio whispered.

“I wonder how she’s doing…” Agata said with curiosity while picking at the grass around her.

“I hope she’s finally relaxing,” Sergio half-smiled. “She deserves to feel a little less of the weight of this game..”

“She does,” Agata agreed, smiling over how clear his love was for her. He was mourning her loss in the game, but all he wanted was to focus on her happiness. He was trying to find comfort in it. “And hey, the matchup ceremony is in tomorrow, so you’ll get to see that for yourself.”

“In 24 hours and 57 minutes to be exact.”

“Do you have it down to the second?”

“And 22 seconds now,” he blushed slightly. 

* * *

Raquel breathed a sigh of relief when her phone alerted her that she only had one kilometre left. She was 55 minutes into her 10 kilometre run along the Cala Mesquida beach’s boardwalk, finding comfort in the way her endurance was improving each day. Julia had decided to point out to her yesterday that her body was starved for endorphins since she wasn’t having sex nearly every day, and as loathsome as she was to admit that it was true, she could feel that need to add more kilometres each day and increase her sprint speed during her intervals because her body was missing that release Sergio gave her. She briefly wondered if he was feeling the same but immediately stopped her mind from yearning for him once again to focus on achieving her best running time.

“Yes!” She yelled happily to the 20 birds all packed around the deserted beach as if they cared of her physical achievements. When she heard a few squawk back, she whispered a thank you before walking up to the lounge chair a few metres ahead where Julia was currently reading her third book of the week.

“How’s this book?” Raquel asked while taking a large gulp of water.

“It’s okay,” she shrugged. “For a poorly written romance novel… How was your run?”

“10k in 62 minutes!” Raquel cheered.

“Your best yet! Congrats!”

“Thank you,” Raquel smiled. “I wish my body agreed. I can already feel my legs cramping…”

“Do you want a massage?” Julia offered playfully. “I hear Angel is available for all of your needs.”

Raquel rolled her eyes in disgust, “I can’t believe he said that last night at dinner… and in front of Mari Carmen. She deserves better.”

“She does,” Julia agreed easily, hating how much more annoying Angel was here than in the house..

“Have you seen Silene?” Raquel asked. “She was supposed to join me this morning…”

“She and Anibal went to a club last night,” Julia revealed. “I think they’re still sleeping.”

“Oh, to be young again,” Raquel smiled wistfully while looking out into the water and then down at her phone with wide eyes. “Speaking of being young, I have to call Paula!” she announced while hastily standing up. “I’ll see you later?”

“Of course,” Julia smiled. “And by then, I’ll know if these two characters who hate each other right now fall in love.”

“Gripping,” Raquel joked before walking back towards the large apartment building for the “perfect matches”. One thing she was thankful for was that she got her own bedroom in a small two bedroom apartment she was sharing with Julia. The show was really trying to push the private romance between the perfect matches, and she felt more guilty every day when flowers would be dispersed in their bathtub, candles lit around their apartment and a delicious dinner for two would appear on their table each night. She had made it clear to Julia in the beginning that friendship was all she could give her, but she could always see the look of disappointment in her eyes over the fact that she wasn’t getting the experience that had been promised to her when she signed up for the show.

Choosing not to focus on that guilt, Raquel quickly showered and changed into a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt before hitting the video icon on Paula’s number in her phone. 

“Hi sweetie,” Raquel’s eyes lit up when she saw her daughter appear on her screen. She was sitting on her bed with one of the camp counselors next to her.

“Mama,” the younger girl smiled. “We built a fairy house today!”

“You did?” Raquel asked, excitement in her voice over how happy her daughter looked.

“Yes! And there is a closet for their wings, a kitchen and three bedrooms!”

“Wow,” Raquel said in amazement. “And who lives there?”

“Marigold,” she revealed. “She’s the fairy of happiness. When someone is feeling sad, she uses her magic to make them smile again.”

“Marigold sounds like an amazing fairy,” Raquel grinned in approval. 

“And she can also shoot lasers from her eyes!”

“Oh,” Raquel blinked over this turn of events, amused by her daughter’s imagination.

“When someone is being mean, she shoots them with lasers to stop. And then they go to the basement.”

“The basement…” Raquel repeated while trying to follow her logic.

“Yes! I’ll show you!” the younger girl grinned while moving the phone to the house she’d made with cardboard, purple construction paper, and glitter.  _ Lots  _ of glitter. “In the basement, the mean people have to write they are mean over and over again like Mrs. Gomez makes us write when she’s mad at us.”

“That’s smart,” Raquel smiled. “I’m glad these mean people can be rehabilitated.”

“Rehabultoted?” Paula scrunched her face in confusion as she attempted to repeat the long word.

“It means that even though they were bad, they can be good again,” Raquel explained. Except Sofia, she thought to herself, there was no hope for her.

“Oh,” Paula nodded as if she fully understood. “You look pretty, Mama,” she quickly changed the topic, no longer focused on her art project.

“Thanks sweetie. You do too,” she grinned.

“I asked Marigold to go to Majorca to sprinkle gold dust all over you, so you wouldn’t be sad anymore.”

“Oh,” Raquel began to tear up over the implication of her words that came from such an innocent place.

“And you are smiling more. I missed your smiles,” she confessed.

“Marigold’s magic worked,” Raquel smiled. “I am happy.”

“Yay!” the younger girl squealed. “I was worried she wouldn’t find you, but I gave her the postcard you sent me.”

“She found me,” Raquel confirmed. “And I’m really happy,” Raquel grinned, thinking about Sergio for a split second while her daughter looked at her with wonder.

The conversation quickly changed to what activities they were planning to do at camp this week, including kayaking, crafts, hiking and swimming. Raquel listened with interest as her daughter shared all of the things she was excited for, but before they were about to say goodbye, there was one line that broke her heart into pieces.

“Daddy stopped coming. Aunt Laura said he’s busy….” followed by, “I wish you were here.” Raquel’s eyes immediately filled with tears but she kept her smile as wide as possible. “We’ll be back soon, cariňo,” she reassured her daughter. “10 days to go.”

“We?” the younger askes, immediately picking up on the plural.

_ Oh shit, _ Raquel thought. This wasn’t the right moment to reveal her relationship with Sergio to her daughter. She would wait until she met him first to see if she liked him before revealing any type of commitment or change in her young daughter’s life. She’d been through enough change over the last two years. “Me and abuela,” she clarified with a half truth.

“Abuela!” She squealed! “And we can play Uno?”

“Of course,” Raquel nodded.

“I can’t wait,” the young girl lit up and all of a sudden, Raquel was filled with relief. Relief that their tumultuous relationship over the past year was finally improving. She only hoped this fragile house of cards didn’t shatter when she introduced Sergio into their lives…

After a few more minutes of discussing everything they’d do when they were back home, Paula and Raquel said their goodbyes which ended with a “te quiero” from Paula for the first time in months, causing the older woman to sob when the video call ended. She didn’t know what changed in her daughter's behaviour. Was it her positivity over the last few weeks? Had something happened at camp? Was it her father? All she knew was that she couldn’t wait to take her in her arms again and never left her go. This felt like a new beginning for both of them.

“Hey Raquel,” Julia greeted, walking into their apartment. 

“Hi,” Raquel greeted while hastily wiping tears from her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Raquel smiled. “I just got off the phone with Paula.”

“It didn’t go well?”

“It went better than I ever could have expected. She misses me…” Raquel cried. “These are happy tears,” she clarified.

“Nice to see you happy again,” Julia smiled, taking a seat on the other end of the couch. “I mean, I know these last few days have been hard…”

“Oh,” Raquel realized what she meant. “They have,” she sighed. “But Sergio and I are adults. We can spend some time apart.”

"Right,” Julia nodded. “But you miss him?”

“I do,” Raquel confirmed, “But I’m more worried about him,” she revealed. 

“Why?”

“I don’t want him to close off from everyone like he had been the first couple of weeks…”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Sofia is there to keep him warm at night,” Julia joked which resulted in a pillow in her face.

“Don’t remind me…” Raquel grimaced. “I’m sure she thinks this is her chance to finally get him without me cockblocking her…”

“Sergio would never…"

“I know,” Raquel agreed, running a hand though her damp hair. “It's just, I’ve been cheated on so many times, it’s hard for my brain to completely trust that. But I do trust him…”

“Seeing as though he’s never so much as looked mildly interested in anyone but you since the beginning, I’d say you have nothing to worry about,” Julia reassured.

“I hope so…” Raquel breathed.

* * *

After his intense morning work-out and exhausting talk with Agata, Sergio walked into his room freshly showered and ready to throw this week’s getaway challenge. The idea of a date with anyone here was his worst nightmare. When he walked towards his bed to grab his glasses from the night table, he was startled by Sofia wrapped in his blankets.

“Sergio,” she grinned. “I thought maybe you would like to snuggle a bit before our next date,” she flirted.

“Uhhh…” he stuttered while quickly grabbing his glasses and placing them on his face. “No, thank you…”

She threw off the covers to reveal her completely nude body to him, grinning wickedly when his eyes paused on her body in shock. “Like what you see?”

He immediately closed and covered his eyes. When he began to step backwards out of the room, she jumped from his bed and closed the door.

“Come on Sergio,” she cajoled. “This tension between us has been building for weeks, and there’s no one here to stop us…” 

“Sofia,” he warned with his eyes closed tightly and his hands covering them for added effect. “This is inappropriate.”

“It’s just a body,” she laughed. “Probably the hottest one you’ll ever see… or touch” she whispered seductively, taking his hand on hers but before she could move it to her hip, he whipped it away, turned around and ran to the door.

“Please, never do this again,” Sergio said quickly, panicking when he heard one of the cameras turn towards him in the room. He opened the door and stepped out.

“If you weren’t turned on, you’d be able to look at me,” she informed him, amused by how awkward he was. “What are you so scared of, Sergio? Getting an erection while looking at my perfect tits?” She asked while standing at the door’s entrance. 

Sergio turned back around and looked her straight in the eye with the harshest look he could muster, “No,” he started. “You could never tempt me as I don’t think anything you’re doing right now is remotely attractive. My pupils are not dilated, I don’t feel hot, I’m not blushing and I can assure you that no part of me is excited to see you disrespect yourself in front of cameras for attention.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said in a smaller voice realizing that he was speaking the truth. There were no physical indicators of any attraction towards her.

‘Believe me when I say this,” He stared into her eyes. “I know you’re the reason Raquel has left this game. And if you don’t stop trying to sabotage our relationship, I will make sure you never have a scene broadcasted on television.”

“You couldn’t…” she stuttered.

“Then call my bluff,” he simply shrugged, turning around to move away from her, proud of himself for having the strength to finally put her in her place. He wished Raquel could see him now. 

Smiling to himself, Sergio walked into the living to see the rest of the group getting ready for their next getaway challenge. However, his smile quickly vanished when he saw the words “Love Connection” written in flashing lights in the living room with 10 podiums for each contestant.

“Sergio and Sofia,” Andres smiled when he saw Sofia run in hastily behind Sergio avoiding eye contact with everyone. “Glad you could finally join us.”

“Sorry,” Sergio mumbled.

“This week’s challenge is all about compatibility,” Andres smiled to the camera and then turned to look at the remaining contestants. “You have all been here for seven weeks now and still, there are some of you who haven’t interacted with each other in a meaningful way. And you never know, there may be someone here who you are compatible with, and you’d never even know,” He smiled suggestively at the group.

Sergio was yet again losing patience for these ridiculous challenges that were only designed to make them all look like fools.

“Everyone will stand behind a podium and answer seven multiple choice questions about what you are looking for in a partner and a relationship. The two couples with the highest compatibility scores based on those answers will be going on the most exciting date this summer: hang gliding on the beach and dinner on a yacht at sunset. I know this romantic date will have you all gliding into new connections,” he quipped for the camera, the smirk never leaving his face.

“Let’s begin,” he instructed everyone to log into the tablets in front of them to select their answers for each question. Questions ranged from attractiveness of a partner, to how you keep your home, to marriage, to finances and kids. 

Sergio’s strategy was to choose the answer he thought was the one no one would select in hopes that his compatibility would be low with everyone in the room, making it seem like he only cared about attractiveness, was messy, didn’t care about money, didn’t want to get married but wanted 5+ children. No one could match with that, right?

Wrong.

His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw the first pairing appear on screen with a 98.6% compatibility score.

Alicia & Sergio.

_ No. _

_ No. _

_ No. _

Sergio’s mind went into overdrive. Had his strategy completely backfired on him?

“Sergio and Alicia,” Andres’ mouth opened in shock. “Looks like you two are a match made in heaven and will be able to explore that more on your date today,” he stuck to the script, but it took everything in him to not start laughing over how horrified they both looked at the results.

“I demand we retake the test,” Alicia declared. “These results are bullshit.”

“And our second couple,” Andres moved on, using every inch of power within him not to roll his eyes, “Martin and Helsinki with 88%”. 

“Yes!!” Helsinki cheered. “I’m finally going on a date!”

“Yessss Helsi!!” Agata grinned, running into his arms to give him a hug. “Martin, please have him home before 10 and no hanky panky,” she warned jokingly.

“Shut up,” he rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Going on dates isn’t really my thing.”

“If you bring up bathroom gloryholes one more time, I swear to god-” Alicia rolled her eyes.

“They are effective,” he defended. 

“Would it kill you to be a little romantic?” Monica asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” he simply answered. 

“This is enough,” Andres warned. “Can our two couples go to the van out front? Your dates start now. And for the rest of you, you have another chance to see if one of these two couples are a perfect match, so choose wisely. You have the opportunity to get 50% of the matches correct before your eighth match-up ceremony. This is huge!”

As Andres left the room, Agata ran up to Alicia. “Please go easy on Sergio,” she begged. “He’s emotionally fragile.”

Alicia watched as Sergio awkwardly tied his shoelace four times in a row as he couldn’t get the strings to be perfectly symmetrical.

“What in karma is this?!” she whined. “I’ve been smiling at the guy every day… what did I do to deserve this?!”

“Please, just go easy on him…”

“Fine,” Alicia grumbled when she saw Sergio cleaning his glasses with his shirt which was completely unlike him. To most people, that simple act would appear normal but to someone like Sergio who lived a life where everything had its own specific purpose, using a shirt in a way it wasn’t meant to be used was a sign that something was off balance for him. Alicia quickly realized he was a lot like her ex and was now hoping this date didn’t make her believe that he was her perfect match.  _ The horror. _

* * *

Sergio had to admit that hang gliding was fun. There was a freedom in running along the beach and letting the man-built flying contraption propel him in the air. The first few times he ran along the beach with his guides, his mind would flash to how much Raquel would love this, but he reminded himself this was something they could do together after the show. She wasn't dead; she was about 20 km down the road. 

And it also helped that Helsinki on the hang glider had been one of the funniest moments of the summer. The burly man screaming in the air for help only to fall over into the sand flat on his face had Sergio nearly in tears of laughter. At first, they had been worried he’d been hurt, but when he stood up and yelled “AGAIN”, everyone had cheered. Even Martin was genuinely smiling which was unlike him.

As much as it pained Sergio to admit it, he needed an experience outside of the house. Every room reminded him of Raquel and a moment they shared together. There was no escaping her presence while trapped in the mansion, but here, he could let go and turn that sadness into hope that they were only one step closer to starting their future together.

Both couples were now seated on opposite sides of the large yacht, eating dinner as the sun set, filling the sky with reds, oranges and yellows. It was breathtaking, Sergio thought as his eyes remained on the sky during this “date” with Alicia. They were already ten minutes into dinner and neither had yet to say one word. For a man who enjoyed silence and solitude, this was the most uncomfortable he’d ever ever felt.

“98%...” Alicia grumbled as she picked at the fresh seafood paella in front of her.

“What was that?” Sergio asked while taking a sip of red wine.

“How were we a 98% match?” She voiced in confusion.

“I threw the quiz…” Sergio admitted.

“So did I!” She exclaimed.

“Oh,” Sergio looked down at the napkin placed perfectly on his lap, pretending to adjust it.

After a few more seconds of silence, Alicia began laughing, “So, you’re telling me we both threw the quiz and we both chose the same answers…”

“It would seem that way, yes,” Sergio began to smile over how ridiculous this outcome was and how their attempt to throw the competition completely backfired on both of them.

“So you don’t want 5+ kids and to live in a shack?”

“No,” he denied, “And you don’t want to retire in an igloo in Canada?”

“No,” she laughed. “If only Raquel could see us right now,” she wiped tears from her eyes.

“Yeah…” he began to sober up at the mention of her name.

“Don’t do that. Don’t be a turtle going back in his shell at the mention of her name…”

Sergio only nodded while taking a sip of his wine, the silence returning between them for the next few minutes as they continued to eat dinner.

“How did you do it?” Alicia asked, finally breaking the silence again.

“Do what?”

“Get with Raquel…” she expanded while taking a large gulp of her white wine. “I was trying to get her since the first night and you didn’t even notice her until-”

“The white party on the first night,” Sergio finished for her. “When she walked down the stairs in that white dress...” he trailed off, smiling slightly at his vision of her in his mind.

“I stand corrected,” Alicia breathed out in shock. “I didn’t realize I had competition that early…”

“I didn’t really understand it at the time, but I’d never been drawn to someone the way I am with Raquel before. There’s something about her that…”

“Makes you want to be around her? I get it.”

“She’s special…”

“Look at us,” Alicia laughed at the irony. “Two people who usually hate being around others being so enamoured by the same woman.”

“I suppose that is pretty funny,” Sergio agreed, the tension he felt in his body beginning to leave his muscles.

“I miss her too, you know,” Alicia confessed after a few more minutes of silence.

“Okay…”

“I mean that,” Alicia took a deep breath to clarify her words, “you can talk to me… or whatever. Maybe I’ll talk back or something. I think it’s called a conversation…”

“A conversation?” Sergio questioned, amused how awkward she was.

“With no threats,” Alicia threw in. “I take that back. Not  _ all _ threats.”

“That’s.. nice?”

“What I’m trying to say,” she rolled her eyes over how hard it was to voice her feelings, “is that you can talk to me about Raquel and I’ll only be 50% judgmental.”

“I feel comforted already,” Sergio rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“You should,” she shrugged, ignoring his skepticism. “I’ll start...I miss her laugh. She’s one of the few people who gets my sense of humour, and I miss that…”

“Okay,” Sergio nodded awkwardly.

“You go,” she gestured before taking another sip of wine, hoping the alcohol would help make this attempt at being nice more bearable.

“Uhhh,” Sergio looked down and thought about how to approach this and decided to go with the truth. “I miss her…uhh”

“If you say boobs…”

“What?!” Sergio straightened up in his seat. “I wasn’t going to say that-”

“So, you don’t miss her boobs…”

“Well, I do miss her…” Sergio started but then immediately stopped himself. “Can we not talk about her … chest?” he blushed.

“At least you get to touch them,” she shrugged. 

“I miss her stories…” He ignored her statement.

“Lame..”

“You said no judgement…”

“50%! You’re a math geek… you should know what 50% means.”

“I’m not a math geek…”

“You’re not? I thought you taught math…”

“Why would you think I teach math?”

“You look like someone who would teach math,” she admitted. “Today, class, we’re going to look at this formula for three hours and think about how it won’t get you laid,” she impersonated with a Steve Urkel inspired voice.

“Criminal justice,” he clarified, trying not to laugh. He had to admit that math professors did have a certain look to them. “I teach about the criminal justice system and also have a degree in history.”

“I can see why Raquel is attracted,” she admitted. “You can talk about the system to her all night while getting her off. I bet she loves it when you whisper ‘chain of command.’”

“Por favor,” he rolled his eyes again.

“Although, it’s safe to assume she’s the top?”

“The top what?”

“The top ranking official in bed?”

“Oh god,” he grimaced while taking a long sip of his wine. 

“I have to ask,” she moved away from the topic, giving him some solace. “Why Raquel?”

“Why Raquel...what?”

“What made you fall in love with her? You don’t seem like the type to fall in love, so I’m curious why it was Raquel out of everyone who wanted you in here.”

“She’s… Raquel,” he simply responded, his eyes twinkling as the last rays of sun for the day reflected off his face, the love he had for her exuding via such a short statement that held so much meaning.

“That is her name, yes,” Alicia teased.

“Why is she someone you want to be friends with?” he countered.

Alicia shrugged, “She’s... Raquel,” she repeated his answer with the hint of a smile. “She’s honest, smart, fun and sexy as hell.”

“This is something we agree on,” Sergio grinned before taking the final bite of rice on his plate.

“How terrible would it be if we were a perfect match?” Alicia laughed to herself.

“The worst,” Sergio agreed, laughing with her. “But to answer your question from before, the reason it’s Raquel...” he cleared his throat as a way to prepare how to put his feelings into words, “Being with her brings out the best in me. I’m more carefree with her and I think I help bring the same out of her. She inspires me to try living in the moment instead of constantly thinking about my next move. I love that surge of happiness I feel when she wakes up next to me or looks at me from across the room. She makes me happy. And this week without her has been… tough,” he finally voiced for the first time in six days. “ _Really_ tough,” he repeated to himself sadly.

“And she has a great set of boobs,” she joked, trying to bring a bit of lightness to the moment, but it was clear that she was moved by his words by the tears forming in her eyes.

“And she has great… cylinder shaped orbs on her chest,” he agreed awkwardly which had the two of them laughing again.

Sergio was relieved to finally feel lighter for the first time since Raquel left with her ‘perfect match’. He was surprised that it was him and Alicia, of all people, laughing together, bonding over a woman who meant a lot to both of them that gave him the comfort he needed. But it also somehow felt right. Was it possible they could now be… _ friends? _

This was a twist he didn’t see coming. 

* * *

It was a new day in the house. The general mood was a mixture of excitement and trepidation as the group was about to embark on their eighth match-up ceremony. Unfortunately, they didn’t get another perfect match yesterday when the group voted for Martin and Helsinki to go into the Truth Booth – much to the surprise of the entire house. This meant they still had to figure out the five remaining matches. 

Agata walked up to Sergio as he was finishing getting dressed for the weekly ceremony, “You’re looking good today,” she complimented as he was buttoning up a powder blue shirt, his hair brushed and his beard neatly trimmed. “Trying to impress someone?” she teased.

“This is how I always…”

“If you really want to impress her, I would go with the black shirt. She loves you in black…” She advised before walking out of the room, leaving Sergio on his own. Immediately, he began unbuttoning the blue shirt and swapping it for the black one he’d worn during the neon party. 

Agata couldn’t help but laugh to herself when he walked out of the room in a black shirt to stand with the rest of the group as they waited for their cue to enter the main stage. She couldn’t help but notice the way he was fidgeting as he waited for the green light to finally see Raquel again after a week. It was adorable. Sad. But adorable nonetheless.

“10 more seconds,” she whispered to him, patting him on the back. “It’s too bad they can never stay after,” she frowned.

Before he could respond, the production assistant asked them to begin walking on the stage in the order they had been instructed. Immediately, his eyes found Raquel who was seated next to Julia in a cream coloured loose fitting summer dress that showed off her perfect legs. Her hair was in loose waves and her make-up was minimal. She was glowing. 

“Welcome everyone,” Andres began his weekly speech, but Sergio’s eyes never left Raquel who was doing her best to listen and stay focused on his brother. He smiled when she began to laugh at something Andres had said, but if someone had asked him what it was, he wouldn’t have a clue. All he could do was stare at Raquel, admiring how beautiful she was from afar.

“Raquel and Julia,” Andres addressed the two women. “How was your first week as a perfect match?”

“It was really great,” Julia grinned. “At first, I was a bit bummed that my perfect match wasn’t with someone who wanted anything romantic with me, but we’ve been having a lot of fun together this week.”

“Any sparks?” Andres asked, wishing he didn’t have to ask a question he knew could hurt his brother.

“No,” Raquel responded quickly. “We can both see why we’re a perfect match, but there is no romantic connection between us,” she clarified, her eyes moving to Sergio who appeared to be relieved by her answer.

“She’s right,” Julia nodded. “I think I met a friend for life in this game, but that’s all it is for both of us.”

Raquel’s eyes stayed on Sergio as Andres addressed the other perfect match couples, noting just how good he looked in his black shirt.  _ Fuck, she had missed him,  _ she thought as all of her feelings for him came rushing through her body with one look. Seven days apart had been excruciatingly slow. As thankful as she was to have some privacy again and the freedom to choose how she spent her time, it pained her that she couldn’t spend those moments with him, wrapped in his arms in bed all day, walking along the beach and going on real dates where cameras weren’t shoved in their faces 24/7.

“Does anyone else feel like the stage is about to go up in flames with the way those two are staring at each other?” Monica whispered to the group while Andres was laughing with Silene over one of her more colourful clubbing experiences. 

“I knew we should have brought the fire extinguisher,” Agata laughed, amazed over how intensely they were staring at each other in front of everyone.

“Sergio,” Andres smiled at his brother who immediately whipped his eyes away from Raquel like a 13 year old boy turning off his computer the moment his mom opened his bedroom door unannounced. 

He awkwardly walked to the front of the stage, blushing as everyone cheered his name. He swore he could hear Raquel whistling behind him.

“You and Alicia had a date this week,” his brother commented..

Raquel’s jaw dropped from behind him and immediately looked at Alicia. How she wished she could have been a fly on the wall for that date.

“We did,” Sergio nodded.

“And Sofia was naked in your bed…”

“WHAT!?” Raquel yelled from behind, unable to control her reaction.

“You had a very eventful week without Raquel in the house,” Andres teased his brother, ignoring Raquel’s reaction. ‘Any new connections?”

“I’m going to fucking kill her,” Raquel whispered to Julia. “Slice her up with a machete…”

“Raquel!” Julia warned.

“How dare she…”

“No,” Sergio shook his head vehemently, a look of disgust on his face. “I politely told Sofia that I wasn’t interested.”

“His loss,” Sofia crossed her arms, not yet willing to call his bluff about having her screen time taken away.

“Who is your perfect match tonight?” Andres asked, not wanting to spend another minute talking about Sofia’s antics this week.

“Tonight, I’m choosing Alicia,” Sergio declared.

“WHAT?!” Raquel yelled from behind again. “I’m gone for one week and this house completely turns itself on its head,” she whispered to herself in horror.

When Alicia walked on stage next to him, Andres couldn’t help but laugh at this turn of events. “Is this a perfect match?” he addressed the fiery redhead.

“Probably not,” she shrugged. “But we both bonded over the best woman in this game… so crazier things have happened,” she rationalized.

Raquel began to tear up at the insinuation. Were the two people she was closest to in the house getting to know each other because of her? Who would have predicted this?

“We did have that 98.6% compatibility too,” Sergio offered, trying to hold in a laugh.

“And we both like boobs,” she added.

“Lock in you two,” Andres shook his head in disbelief. This game was making them all go crazy, he summarized.

Sergio and Alicia took the chair behind Raquel and Julia, both smiling over how stunned she looked as they passed by.

The rest of the matches were fairly drama-free, including Daniel/Monica, Agata/Helsinki, Martin/Suarez and Sofia/Marseilles. As per usual, once everyone was seated, the lights went down to add dramatic effect on whether they were able to figure out any new matches this week. Andres, of course, reminded them of the consequences if they didn’t, losing a quarter of the prize money.

Quickly, a fourth blue light beamed up to the sky, signifying they had one new match in addition to their three perfect match couples. Soon, a fifth light followed and everyone was on their feet cheering, chanting for six.

“HOLY SHIT!!!” Agata screamed. “ARE WE ABOUT TO WIN?!”

After a pause, however, the lights came on, signifying that they only had five perfect matches correct, the best they had done to date.

“Five matches,” Andres grinned. “You’re finally going in the right direction,” he addressed the group with excitement. “After tonight, you have two more chances to win this game.”

“And we will win!” Agata hollered followed by cheers from the rest of the group who were cheering and hugging each other in happiness. This was the first time they felt hopeful.

* * *

After the match up ceremony filming was complete, the contestants were casually socializing on stage as the crew was packing up all of the camera equipment. Soon the “perfect matches” would be driven back to their apartments for the week, and this was the only time they had to learn about all of the juicy gossip in the house.

The production assistants announced the perfect matches would be leaving soon. One of the young PAs looked around, “Where is Raquel?”

If he had walked to the side of the large house, he would have found her pressed up against the wall by Sergio, who was leaving frantic kisses down her neck with one hand in her hair and the other around her waist.

“You look amazing,” he breathed into her neck, the heat from his breath sending tingles down her spine.

Her hands were lost in his hair, gripping his scalp as he kissed down to her collarbone and back up to her lips.

“I missed you,” she whispered into his mouth, kissing him once again, her tongue seeking his in their familiar sensual dance, their mouths wide open as they inhaled each other like they had just found water after days in the Sierra Desert. Time no longer existed, the game was a distant memory and the words perfect match were no longer in their vocabulary as they frantically touched each other everywhere in an attempt to make up for a week apart. A  _ long  _ week apart.

“I miss you,” he broke away from the kiss in an attempt to look at her, but she quickly brought his head back to hers, capturing his lips without missing a beat. “Don’t stop kissing me,” she begged.

“Whatever you want,” he whispered in her mouth as his hands moved her dress up to reveal a lacy pair of red underwear. When he felt her hands undoing his belt buckle while she sucked on his tongue, he realized that Alicia had been right. She was the “top” in their relationship, and he was more than okay with that dynamic.

Once his belt was on the lawn, she unzipped his jeans and quickly pulled down his pants and boxers, freeing his hard, red cock that was already oozing with pre-cum for her.

Her hand stroked it softly for a few seconds, never tearing her lips away from his as he moaned into her mouth at the intense pleasure he felt by her light touch.

He moved his hands to her underwear, pulling the red lace down her legs in one quick motion before bringing his right hand to her centre, rubbing it slowly until he could feel his fingers coated in her liquid.

“Mmmfggg Sergio,” she gasped into his mouth. “Now,” she ordered.

He lined himself at her entrance and sighed as he slowly began to fill her.

_ Home.  _

They stopped kissing, leaning their foreheads together as they were consumed by the familiar sensations of their bodies joining together in harmony. They stood still for a few seconds, comforted by the warmth they felt after being apart for so long.

Once they were starting to feel those familiar tingles, Raquel wrapped her left leg around Sergio’s waist as she thrusted into him to improve their angle. 

“We have to be fast,” She whispered, urging him to pick up the pace as his hand held on to her leg and the other her lower back for support. 

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” he whispered while thrusting into her with long but hard strokes.

“Me too,” she sighed over how delicious this felt. “And what was this about Sofia naked in your room??”

Sergio’s eyes closed, the last thing he wanted on his mind right now was Sofia, but he continued their conversation as they moved together, “I told her if she tried it again I’d make sure she gets no screen time,” he assured her.

“Oh,” she moaned when she felt him beginning to quicken his pace. “I guess that’s more effective than slapping her,” she attempted to laugh but it came out as a groan when he pumped into her. 

“She has yet to call my bluff,” he smiled proudly, kissing her on the cheek and moving his hand to grip her ass cheek as he began shorter and faster thrusts. “God, you feel like heaven,” he whispered in her ear.

Feeling her body getting closer reaching its peak, Raquel moved one hand hand to her clit while the other gripped his shoulder, rubbing herself furiously until they began to shake together, both of their bodies exploding like dynamite together.

“Wow,” Raquel whispered once he slid out of her, the two of them pulling up their underwear and adjusting their clothes before they were caught. “Have you been working out?” she asked, impressed by his stamina in his challenging position.

“90 squats a day,” he confessed.

“That makes sense,” she laughed. “I ran 10k yesterday, so I guess it’s safe to say we’re both frustrated.”

Sergio laughed with her, his arms wrapping around her waist and hugging her to his body. “I don’t know if I can survive two weeks of stolen moments with you,” he confessed sadly. 

“Sergio,” she warned. “We can’t be one of those pathetic couples who can’t spend time apart.”

“Say that again,” Sergio grinned.

“Spending time apart…”

“Before that…”

“Pathetic couples…”

“We’re a couple,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to her lips. “I like the sound of that.”

“So, we are that pathetic couple,” she laughed, kissing him back quickly. 

“Raquel!” She heard one of the production assistants yell from the main stage.

“Shit, I have to go,” she pouted, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug his body to hers again.

“No,” he pleaded, dropping a soft kiss on her bare shoulder.

“Tell you what,” she grinned playfully. “If you can get this group to win the game next week, I’ll…” she whispered a phrase in his ear that had his whole body covered in goosebumps.

“What? Are you serious?” his eyes widened.

“It’s your motivation,” she licked her lips seductively. 

“Looks like we’re winning next week,” he confirmed easily while pulling her into one last hug as he mentally prepared for another week without her by his side.

Later on, when Raquel was in the van back to the perfect match apartments, Julia had told her that this was the first time she’d seen her this happy all week. Raquel smiled and looked out the window to a shooting star in the sky wondering if the fairy Paula invented in her imagination was real and had sprinkled her with magical dust to make her immensely happy for the first time in 10 years.

Now, she only hoped that Sergio was ready to push the group to win this game soon so they could finally start their life together. 

_ Nothing could go wrong, right? _

_ [cheesy voiceover]  _ Ooohhh, what did Raquel whisper in Sergio's ear?? Will Sofia call Sergio's bluff? Are Sergio and Alicia a perfect match?! That's insanity, right? And will this group of love dumb people win this crazy game?! Find out in the next chapter!


	18. Perfect Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The days leading to the final match up ceremony. Will they win or lose?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know how to start this. The end is here, and it's really bittersweet because this story saved me this year. It gave me a fictional place of comfort to run to on some of the darkest days. I started this story at the beginning of the pandemic because I wanted to write something light, comedic and fun while the world is angsty all around this. And I don't know if I truly accomplished that from a story perspective, but it brought me joy to write this world, and that is enough for me.
> 
> I had always planned to write the reunion show (the show after they all watched the series on TV and reunite for the first time in a year) as the final chapter, but I don't know if it's needed. This story took on a mind of its own and ended up being triple the length than I ever had planned for it. And it's already so detailed that I'm not sure anyone would be interested in a commentary chapter about this story now that the main action is over. I just don't think this world is interesting enough for it. So I think I'll let this be the end, and if people really want the reunion show, I may make it it's own special one shot.
> 
> And finally, I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story. There are SO many amazing Serquel fics. So many talented writers in this fandom who have pushed me to want to even write at a quarter of their talent. And some of you actually took a chance on this stupid story and stayed with me for A LOT OF WORDS lol. I really can't thank you enough. Every comment, kudos, tweet, message - are the reason I was able to complete this story and not abandon it. So THANK YOU for your time and your investment in a world I created. I've been terrible at answering comments on ao3, but I promise I'll take the time to answer anyone who comments on this chapter because I want to thank you all for reading. 
> 
> And here it is... the final chapter. And it's the longest one yet. Are we surprised? I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it.

Raquel took a long sip of her martini while Angel told his third story about nearly being killed while in the field. She nearly rolled her eyes over his many attempts to appear heroic when, in most cases, it sounded like his partner did all of the work while he waited in the car.

“And then the bastard started to run away, but I quickly dispatched the team to let them know his location and we caught him,” Angel smiled smugly before taking a swig of his beer. 

“Interesting,” Silene rolled her eyes, her sarcasm only missed by Angel who took it as encouragement to continue his story.

“I was the one to arrest him. That fucker got 8 years in prison,” Angel smiled proudly. “Do you have any good stories, Raquel?”

“No, I’m afraid I’m just a boring behind the desk officer,” she lied, not wanting to focus on her many close call moments during her career. 

“One day, you’ll have to stop by my precinct, and I can show you how much fun you could be having…” he winked drunkenly, his hands clasped tightly around his bottle of Mahou. 

Raquel’s eyes darted to Mari Carmen who was looking down at a water stain on the table in discomfort over Angel’s blatant attempts to flirt with her. “Sure,” Raquel forced a smile. “Sounds nice.” As she struggled with the words, she felt Silene’s hand over hers under the table in comfort.

“What she means to say is, no fucking way is she getting close to you,” Silene corrected.

“It’s okay,” Raquel smiled at the woman next to her whose idea of foreplay was aggression. “How have you been, Mari Carmen?” Raquel directed to the woman who was still avoiding eye contact.

“She’s great,” Angel slurred on her behalf.

“Don’t answer for her,” Julia’s face scrunched in annoyance. 

“I’m fine,” Mari Carmen forced a smile, “It seems we’re finally getting closer to winning,” she attempted to change the subject.

“About time!” Silene rolled her eyes, “I was beginning to think it was hopeless.”

The group continued to talk about the game, the matches, creating theories who the matches were. As they were deep in discussion over what poor soul would have to forever have the words ‘perfect match’ marked on them with Sofia, Raquel chose that moment to go to the bar and order another drink. Angel wasted no time running to join her, gesturing to the bartender to give him two more beers. 

“Where were you tonight?” Angel asked, his eyes narrowing on a red marking on her shoulder. 

“Why does it matter to you?” She asked, consciously bringing her hand to her shoulder to hide the place Sergio nipped her (how did she miss that?).

“No reason,” he replied, his passive aggressive tone creating an aura of discomfort around them.

“What is it, Angel?” Raquel rolled her eyes.

Angel smiled at the bartender as he paid for his drinks and then uncomfortably looked at Raquel. “I saw you and Sergio.”

No.

Fuck.

Abort this conversation.

Now.

“Oh…” Raquel nearly choked on her breath. “How much did you…”

“What are you doing, Raquel!?” He let out an exasperated sigh. “This guy isn’t right for you…”

“And why is that?” Raquel challenged. “Because you are?”

“Well… yes,” he whispered. “But he’s playing you, I know it….” he continued in an attempt to appeal to her rationality. 

“And what about Mari Carmen?! Your _perfect match._ ”

“Raquel,” he breathed again in order to regain control of the conversation, “You know all of that perfect match stuff is bullshit.”

“She still has feelings…”

“But I don’t want her! I want _you!_ I’ve been waiting for _you_!” he burst out, shocking even himself as the many beers he consumed were removing the coffee filter from his brain to his mouth.

“She’s your perfect match,” Raquel tried again, wishing she could transport herself from this messy and ridiculous declaration of love. Coherent words no longer forming in her head. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she wasn’t something he got to decide he could claim simply because he wanted her. 

“Screw the perfect matches!” He shakily ran his hand through his hair, “It’s not like the show even followed the matchmaker advice…”

Raquel’s eyes widened at the insinuation of his words. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” he stopped himself by taking another swig of his beer.

“You definitely meant something,” Raquel growled. 

“Ask your boyfriend about Radko,” he muttered while awkwardly fixing his glasses, frightened by the Raquel Murillo stare. “I’m sure your lover knows since his brother runs this show. Did you know that?!” He taunted angrily.

“Yes,” Raquel affirmed while shuddering over his use of the word _lover_. “I did know that. Now, tell me what you meant…who is Radko?” she tried again, confused over this turn of events. Was it possible there actually was something working against them all behind the scenes?

“I already said too much,” he began to back away when he noticed a camera operator coming into the restaurant to do their weekly catch-up with the perfect matches. “When he hurts you, you can still call me. I’ll be here,” he slurred confidently while leering at her one last time, losing complete control over his words. 

“Who the fuck is Radko?” Raquel muttered to herself as she walked back to the group, her mind no longer focused on Angel’s revolting attempt to win her heart, the words of her fellow contestants, or even Silene’s questioning look over how dumbfounded she appeared. Her mind was spinning with only one thought, _what did Angel know that she didn’t?_

* * *

The next few days moved at the pace of molasses for Sergio as he grumbled over the carelessness of the remaining contestants. He wondered if they even wanted to win the money or if this was only about the attention they’d receive when it aired on MTV Espaňa. The week was filled with drunkenness, random hook-ups (Suarez and Marseilles in the boom boom room?!) and he even heard whispers of a fivesome from Alicia who grumbled over how annoying “monogamous life was now” into her morning coffee – whatever that meant.

It was the morning before their ninth getaway challenge, and this week was critical for winning the game. If they didn’t get the right couple confirmed, they were doomed into playing another week of this godawful game, and that was the last thing he wanted. 

So, here he was, at the kitchen table with cutlery, condiments, mugs, and anything he could find to use as his own chess board of perfect matches with his brows furrowed over one potential variable. 

Alicia walked into the room with Agata by her side, the two women slyly letting go of each others’ hands when they saw Sergio in full concentration mode, staring at a red chili pepper and a small jar of mayonnaise.

“Oh no,” Alicia whispered to Agata when they were still out of his earshot. “Is he having a Daniel moment?”

Agata laughed, smacking the redhead in the arm, “Maybe he’s making chipotle mayo…”

“Raquel is a little spicier than Monica, so that makes sense if he’s about to-”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Agata groaned, holding her stomach in disgust.

“Do you think that’s the face he makes while he’s fucking?” Alicia asked over the intensity of his stare, the tightness of his jaw and the way he was seemingly holding his breath in frustration.

“If so, poor Raquel,” Agata laughed, unable to help herself. He really did have the look of so many men she’d been with who looked like they were trying to let out a stubborn fart before cumming.

“Sergio!” Alicia yelled from the entrance of the room. “Put down the mayonnaise!”

“This is an intervention,” Agata laughed along.

Startled by the interruption, Sergio dropped what was in his hand to catch his breath. “What are you both doing?”

“What are _you_ doing?!” Agata responded, her eyes looking at the mess on the kitchen table.

“I’m trying to figure out all of our matches,” he sighed, frustration evident in his tone as he picked up the chili and a small bottle of vanilla extract.

“Why are you working so hard?” Agata asked while taking a seat next to him. “We still have two more tries…”

Sergio’s mind flashed to Raquel’s words, his cheeks slightly pink as he thought about his answer…

“He wants to get back to Raquel as soon as possible. It’s almost romantic if it wasn’t so pathetic…” Alicia rolled her eyes while taking the seat on Sergio’s other side.

“We need to use this week to be as close to perfect as we can; otherwise, we don’t win,” Sergio ignored her insult.

“So what’s the problem? I thought you already figured this out weeks ago,” Agata shrugged.

“Weeks 2 and 3.”

“What?” Agata’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“There are two possible matches: Daniel and Monica or Alicia and Martin,” Sergio sighed in frustration. 

“That’s easy, it’s Daniel and Monica,” Agata shrugged while picking up a packet of mustard.

“Is it?!” Sergio questioned in frustration.

“They are a couple…” Agata tried again.

“Raquel and I were also convinced-”

“Agata,” Alicia interrupted. “Can you leave us for a second?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“Look, Sergio and I are like those people who don’t hate each other now,”

“Friends?” Agata attempted to define.

“Whoa whoa, why are you labelling this?” Agata stopped her. “I just want to talk to the nerd for a second. I’ll find you later.”

“Okay,” Agata nodded, attempting to hold in a laugh as she got up to leave the room. That was an alliance she didn’t see coming.

“Sergio,” Alicia used his name for one of the rare moments during this game, “What’s going on?”

“It’s possible Daniel and Monica aren’t a match. It could be you and Martin,” He sighed, looking at the mayo, vanilla, chili pepper, and onion in front of him. “And they are fooling themselves…”

“Like you and Raquel did…”

Sergio sighed while holding the pepper shaker. “I know this is ridiculous. I know this game is meaningless… but…”

“You wanted Raquel to be your perfect match…” Alicia understood. “And it’s killing you that she’s living with someone else with that title.”

“It is,” he sighed. “It shouldn’t. It’s not rational or logical…”

“Let me tell you a story,” Alicia offered. “There was once a cactus named Cergio and he was a prickly weirdo who would cause people pain when they touched him. It was a bloody mess most days, but he was a decent looking cactus if you liked that sort of cactus with small eyes, skinny legs and an okay chest…”

“Where is this going…”

“And then there was this ant named Antquel who decided to make her her life’s purpose to protect the cactus. She loved his sugar. And they fell in love against all common sense. And she kept all the other bugs away. And he kept her fed.”

“What is the point of this?” Sergio asked while trying to follow the logic of this weird fable. The Cactus and the Ant? He hadn’t heard that one before.

“And they said you were smart,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “Sometimes the best partnerships don’t make sense on paper, but that doesn’t make it any less special.”

“But ants and cacti do, in fact, have an interesting relationship,” Sergio countered.

“Stop projecting your own love story on the game,” Alicia tried a new tactic. “Daniel and Monica are probably a match… and that one doesn’t make sense on paper.”

“We need to know for sure,” Sergio sighed. “We can’t go into this week with assumptions. We need to make sure either you and Martin or Daniel and Monica go into the truth booth this week. The game depends on it.”

“So dramatic,” Alicia laughed while picking up the chili pepper. “But I’ll threaten everyone to do as you ask, but I need something in return…”

“What is that?”

“I get to make out with Raquel for one minute.”

Sergio’s eyes narrowed.

“30 seconds,” she tried again.

“Alicia-” he warned.

“Fine,” she slumped into her chair, grabbing a lollipop, removing the wrapper and popping it into her mouth. “10 seconds is my final offer.”

Sergio got up from his seat with the mess of his attempt at determining the matches left on the table. 

“Please help me win this,” he pleaded softly, while awkwardly adjusting his glasses. “For Raquel…”

“For Raquel,” Alicia nodded, taking his hand in hers for a firm handshake. “Who would have thought? You and me, partners?” she laughed.

“We have a common goal,” Sergio shrugged.

“Yes,” Alicia nodded, “Boobs… or as you call them, cylinder shaped orbs.”

Sergio nearly laughed. “Thank you.”

“It won’t happen again.”

* * *

Andres stood in the backyard in front of two booths, ready to introduce this week’s getaway challenge. On this date, the two lucky couples were going to go on a helicopter ride around the island followed by dinner on the boardwalk. 

Alicia had done her part, ensuring that it was she and Monica who would be the two contestants everyone would compete for. This week’s challenge had the contestants trying to match their answers to questions asked to Monica and Alicia prior to the competition, and the last two standing would get to choose who they wanted to take on the date. This was simple, everyone else had to throw it so that at the very least Daniel or Martin won, so they would put one of the variable couples into the truth booth to win this game.

It was simple.

Right?

Quickly, Daniel was eliminated when he rang in smugly to answer the question of how many kids Monica wanted. “Five,” he smiled confidently.

“What!?” Monica squealed from behind the partition. “Are you crazy? I’m not having five kids!”

That was one down. Now, it all depended on Martin.

And Sergio knew the man well enough to know not to put all of his bets on him. This was going to be a complete disaster. To his surprise, however, most of the contestants rang in, deliberately giving incorrect answers to questions like “are looks or brains more important?” and “do you like a partner who you spend all of your time with or do you want space?” leaving Martin, Sofia and Suarez as the final three competing for the dates. 

When the question for Monica was whether she preferred a quiet date for two or a big group date, Sofia immediately rang in and got the answer correct. 

Sergio rolled his eyes. Of course, she would try to ruin this for them.

When the group was asked whether Alicia preferred dogs or cats, Martin took a gamble and answered dogs.

“Shit,” Alicia muttered under her breath. “It’s cats. Of course, it’s cats. Do you think I would enjoy the company of something as dumb and loyal as a dog? I am offended!”

“Sorry, mi amor,” Martin grumbled and took a step back with the eliminated contestants. 

“Congratulations Sofia and Suarez for winning the dates today!” Andres clapped. “Sofia, who would you like to go on a date with?”

“If that bitch chooses me,” Alicia mumbled to Monica.

“Alicia,” Sofia smirked.

“Fuck,” Alicia breathed out. This was her worst nightmare.

“Ok, then Suarez and Monica, you will be going on the second date,” Andres smiled. “And for the rest of you, you will vote one of these two couples into the Truth Booth. It’s your last chance to see if you get a perfect match.

“Last chance?” Sergio questioned skeptically. Where has this curveball come from?

“Yes, next week we have a special date planned for everyone. Because we did the special truth booth, this week’s brings you to ten,” he clarified.

Sergio adjusted his glasses in an attempt to hide his glare from the cameras surrounding them. If he could, he’d walk up to his brother and punch him for this. This was the worst possible outcome.

When Andres left and the set was taken down, the rest of the group walked into the kitchen solemnly. The tension so thick that not even a power saw could cut through it.

Shocking everyone, Sergio was the first to stand and voice his disappointment. “What was that?” 

“What do you mean?” Sofia shrugged, amused by how he was pacing in anger in front of all of them.

“We had a clear plan. Martin or Daniel would win the date, so we could put one of those two couples in the Truth Booth and win this. Daniel,” he turned his body to stare at the younger man who was slumped on the couch; regret evident from head to toe. “You weren’t supposed to ring in. All you had to do was stay quiet and you answered the first question? How…” Sergio attempted to compute the complete lack of thought from the man in front of him.

“I’m sorry, okay?! Monica and I talked about kids and she said five…”

“I was joking, you idiot!!” Monica rolled her eyes. “We then laughed and agreed that two was plenty.”

“Oh,” realization dawned on Daniel’s face. “I must have forgotten,” he said sheepishly.

“And Sofia,” Sergio turned his body in a 90 degree angle to see the blond woman trying to hide a laugh behind her glass of water. “Why didn’t you throw the answer?”

Sofia shrugged. “Martin should have gotten his question right. That’s not my problem.”

“Do you think this is some kind of game?!” Sergio raised his voice for the first time on the show.

“It’s literally a game,” Suarez laughed.

“No, you are both fucking up our chances of winning the money, and you think this is funny?!”

“Sergio, calm down,” Martin warned.

“On what planet did you think my favourite animal was a dog?!” Alicia joined in.

“He threw it,” Sergio realized. “You wanted this game to keep going. Fuck. We’re all so close to winning the money and you’re acting like selfish assholes! Some people here really need this money.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I agree with Sergio. How could you guys throw the most important Truth Booth?! This was our last fucking chance, and if we don’t win, I’ll be coming for both of you,” Alicia pointed at Suarez and Sofia.

“Like I’m scared of you…” Sofia scoffed while crossing her arms around her chest.

Alicia walked up to the annoying blond and, without any hesitation, punched her across her nose, causing Sofia to yelp as she fell back onto the couch. “That’s for choosing me for the date.”

She then proceeded to slap her across the face. “And that’s for being a complete bitch to Raquel.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Agata held the redhead back. “We’re all better than this,” Agata addressed the group. “We’re not going to win this game by being assholes to each other!”

“Agata is right,” Monica spoke up. “We are all in this together! So we didn’t get the couples we wanted this week? It’s done. We can’t change it now. It’s going to be okay. We can still win this game.”

“Exactly,” Agata agreed. “Sergio,” she addressed him as he was adjusting his sleeves nervously. “Keep going with your plan for this week’s match up ceremony and the rest of you better follow who he says to sit with this week. If anyone strays from the plan, I’ll let go of Alicia.”

“Fine,” Suarez sighed. “I’ll go along with the plan. I want to win this money too.”

“Sofia?” Agata glared at the blond who was now holding a wet cloth over her bleeding nose. 

“Fine.” She shrugged. “I’ll follow the plan.”

“Good,” Agata nodded. “Sergio, you have our complete trust this week. Let’s win this!”

“Let’s win this!!” Daniel yelled from behind inspiring the rest to join in, except Sergio who quietly returned to the kitchen table with his props, still feeling tense after confronting the house for deliberately fucking them over; however, it did something he never expected. Letting out their anger and frustration united them. This was the first time the house seemed to be on the same page, but now the pressure was on him to hit the home run needed to win the game with two outs. 

* * *

Raquel stood next to a palm tree with the ocean waves softly moving behind her. The production team had found a quiet place to film her commentary leading up to this week’s ninth match up ceremony. 

It was only her, Antoñanzas and a camera on a tripod. “We’re a little low on resources today,” he explained as he looked for the perfect angle to capture Raquel’s beauty in natural light. “They didn’t even give me someone to do the sound, so I’m sorry for how long it will take since I’ll have to check it between takes.”

“That’s okay,” Raquel smiled patiently. “It’s not like I have anywhere to go. What’s your first name by the way?”

“Benito,” he responded, smiling softly to himself. She was the first person to ask him that in ten weeks.

“Benito,” Raquel responded smiling. “It’s been a crazy few weeks, hasn’t it been?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he laughed. “Okay, I’m ready. How are you?”

“Good,” Raquel smiled.

“How has it been in the honeymoon suite this week? Are you and Julia getting closer?”

“Why does the show keep pushing this?” Raquel asked, annoyed by having to answer the same question every week.

“Because she’s your perfect match. They want to show people that this process works.”

Raquel held in a laugh. “Right,” she shook her head. “Julia and I have been getting along well, but honestly, she’s been spending more time comforting Mari Carmen over Angel being a jerk to her.”

“Oh,” Benito turned off the camera. “I don’t think that’s something we want to reveal right now.”

“It’s the truth.”

“I get it, but we need you to hint about your connection with Julia and tell us that you are feeling something….”

“You want me to lie…”

“Stretch the truth a bit.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Raquel offered as she considered his direction. “If I give you what you want, you have to answer one question I have honestly after this interview.”

“Deal,” he smiled, knowing nothing she would ask would be more important than getting this soundbite right for the content team. 

“Julia is amazing,” Raquel began. “She’s been through a lot, but she’s taken control over her own identity, what she wants out of life and has inspired me to want to live my life more truthfully.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that we all get so caught up in trying to fit a certain label in life. Mom, daughter, detective, student, woman… and we do our best to live up to these standards because it’s what’s expected of us. But Julia has shown me that we get to define what those labels mean for us and to stop using society’s expectations as a guide for happiness. Our happiness is our own.”

“That’s deep,” Benito smiled.

“Yes,” Raquel nodded.

“What does happiness look like for you?”

“For me? A big part of it is my family. My daughter smiling, my mom humming Elvis songs because she doesn’t know the English words. But what this game taught me is that my own personal happiness also impacts theirs and I can’t care for them unless I’m caring for myself. And for me, I wish I could say I love being a single mom and an independent woman, but I love having a partner. Someone who I can be Raquel with. Who I can laugh with or argue with over the morning crossword puzzle with. Someone who I can sleep next to without feeling like my personal space is being suffocated. Someone who can be there for me when I need a boost and who hopefully can get the same from me. A balanced relationship.”

“And do you think Julia can be that for you?”

“It’s possible,” Raquel lied. “We’re a perfect match for a reason, and I won’t rule out anything in the future.”

“And what about Sergio?”

“Sergio is still looking for his perfect match, and I hope when he finds that person, he can find some happiness too.”

“Do you think you both have a future?”

“Anything is possible,” Raquel smiled, flawlessly lying to the camera. “But all I can do is comment on what’s happening now, and right now, I’m getting to know my perfect match.”

“And cut,” Benito smiled. “Thank you for that, Raquel. That was fantastic.” he commented while checking the sound quality.

“And now I get to ask you a question?” Raquel asked.

“A deal is a deal,” he nodded. “Give me a minute to go over the sound.”

Raquel nodded, putting her hair up in a messy bun with a pencil from her bag, ready to interrogate this young man to get the answers she needed.

“Ready,” he smiled.

“Who is Radko?” Raquel asked.

“What,” Benito immediately tensed. “I have no idea who you are talking about. Never heard that name in my life.”

“That’s interesting,” Raquel nodded, pretending to believe him for a moment. “Because from the way your shoulders are tensing, your eyes looking around quickly and the way you’re wiping sweat from your palms on your jeans are telling me a completely different answer.”

“I can’t answer that.”

“It would be really unfortunate if that camera somehow ended up floating in the ocean,” Raquel threatened, the smile, however, never leaving her face.

“You wouldn’t…”

“I’m a cop,” Raquel reminded him, “I can dispose of that camera before you can say the words ‘perfect match.’”

“He’s not who you think he is,” Benito caved.

“And who do I think he is?”

“He’s not involved with the show, I mean,” he clarified.

“I also heard that the show didn’t take the matchmakers’ advice for the perfect matches. Is that true?”

“That’s a different question,” Benito attempted to stop her interrogation.

“Since you won’t answer my first question, answer me this. Is there a link between a person named Radko and the perfect match selection on the show.”

Benito looked away for a moment to take the camera off of the tripod to pack up his equipment. “Yes,” he whispered.

“I can work with that,” Raquel smiled, removing the pencil from her hair and letting it fall. “Thank you, Benito.”

“But…” he debuted while picking up his packed bags, “I know you think there is something nefarious happening behind the scenes, but it’s honestly nothing like that. I recommend focusing on your last week here.”

“Easier said than done,” Raquel whispered to herself as she watched him put his bags in the trunk of his car and driving off, leaving her alone to weigh the pros and cons of what to do with this information. 

* * *

An hour before the ninth match up ceremony, Sergio was sitting at the kitchen table proud of the matches he had landed on. Because the show didn’t allow them to use pens or paper, he had to use what was available to him in the kitchen to represent each of the remaining contestants and go through the different variations week to week to see who was definitely a match, who are likely to be a match and any question marks. He quickly realized that if Monica wasn’t a perfect match with Daniel, she would be matched with Marseilles which didn’t make much sense. As much as he didn’t want to trust in the connection they’d built over the course of the show, he would put his bets on it tonight.

“What’s this?” Alicia asked, walking into the kitchen while sucking on a cherry lollipop. 

“These are our perfect matches tonight,” Sergio announced proudly.

“Before you keep going, we need to talk,” she walked up to the table. 

“Sure,” Sergio nodded awkwardly.

“I know we’ve been getting along lately, and we’ve bonded over Raquel’s boobs…”

“Por favor,” Sergio whispered to himself.

“And they are nice boobs. The perfect size to hold in your hand, soft but… firm…” she continued, staring up at the ceiling lost in thought.

“Is there a point?”

“You chose me last week,” she finally breathed out, “And I get why you would think we’re a perfect match. I mean…. Look at me, I look just like your ex and my boobs are just as nice as Raquel’s,” she smirked at him.

“Alicia…”

“And you’re not as bad as I thought. And I think a part of me was annoyed at you for weeks because Raquel chose you. And I’m not in love with her,” she clarified, “But there was a time when I thought maybe she and I could be more? But every time I tried to get her attention, she was looking at you.”

“I’m sorry,” Sergio mumbled. “I didn’t know-”

“I never stood a chance with her. None of us had a chance with either of you. You both had this weird energy since the beginning and all the rest of us could do was watch it unfold.”

“Right…” Sergio nodded.

“You’re really good for each other,” she smiled painfully, saying nice things literally making her chest hurt. “But my point is, if you choose me as your perfect match again, I’ll chop off your balls and sell them to the Italian meatball black market…”

And she was back, Sergio smiled to himself. “There’s no such thing…” Sergio shook his head, holding in a laugh.

“Sergio…” she warned.

“Your perfect match is Agata,” Sergio smiled. “The red chili is next to the garlic.”

“Oh,” Alicia looked down at the table. “So none of this was necessary?”

“No,” Sergio chuckled.

“That’s embarrassing,” Alicia sighed to herself. 

“For what it’s worth, I think you and Agata are great together…”

“How did you-”

“You are both not as subtle as you think…” Sergio smirked and then frowned while staring at the clove of garlic. “I felt terrible for hurting her…”

“I guess it was fate that the rejected from Serquel club would end up together,” Alicia laughed. “We bonded over it…”

“That’s good...,” Sergio nodded awkwardly, unsure of how to feel over this revelation. 

“You both missed out,” Alicia shrugged, “But we both won in the end,” she smiled. “And if you tell her I said that…”

“I’ll lose my balls,” Sergio finished, grimacing to himself.

“Who is your perfect match?” she asked, looking down at the table curiously.

Sergio immediately rolled his eyes. “I’m going to go talk to this person,” he sighed. “Can you gather everyone here in 30 minutes and I’ll let everyone know what symbol they are?”

“Fine,” Alicia grumbled over the effort of talking to everyone. “Are we winning tonight?”

“We are,” Sergio grinned, relieved that he’d figured out the pattern. 

What the two missed, however, was Sofia hiding behind the entrance of the kitchen, overhearing the last part of their conversation. When everyone was out of sight, she ran to the table and switched a spatula and small packet of sugar while smiling wickedly to herself.

_Or not._

**/ /**

“Sergio,” Martin smiled when Sergio walked out of the house and sat next to him on one of the lounge chairs by the pool. “What do I owe the pleasure of your presence today?”

“I thought I’d say hello to my perfect match,” Sergio rolled his eyes. “Did you know?”

“I tried to tell you the first week,” Martin laughed. “I even made sure the house voted for you and Raquel so you’d finally take those love blinders off….” he rolled his eyes.

“But you said…”

“I lied,” he laughed to himself. “You looked like you were about to murder someone and I, in fact, enjoy my life.”

“You could have saved us a lot of heartache if you’d been…”

“And get in the way of my favourite nerd falling in love for the first time? I don’t like to play with fate…” He shook his head.

“But…”

“Tell me this, you wouldn’t have fallen in love with her if you knew from the first week that you weren’t a perfect match?”

Sergio sighed, looking at the steady water of the pool in front of him, the stillness bringing him a bit of comfort to voice his next thought, “I can’t imagine a scenario where I wouldn’t fall madly in love with her…” he confessed.

“Well then…” Martin smiled triumphantly.

“But we could have played it differently. We could have-”

“You would have yearned for her from the corner for ten weeks if you knew,” Martin corrected. “You forget that I know you.”

“Maybe,” Sergio admitted.

“And while I’d have gotten a good laugh at how pathetic it would have been, I’m glad you actually made a move that wasn’t plotted out on a chess board for the first time in your life…”

“Why are you here, by the way?” Sergio changed the subject, not wanting to focus on his emotional shortcomings. “You are not looking for a perfect match.”

“I was a last minute replacement,” he revealed. “And you know your brother, he didn’t want me searching for love…”

“Didn’t you have sex with Helsinki?”

“That’s just a release between men,” Martin waved his hand, diminishing its importance.

“You and my brother have the weirdest relationship,” Sergio shook his head in disbelief.

“And soon I’ll be your brother-in-law,” he taunted.

“Don’t remind me,” Sergio rolled his eyes. “I suppose this solves the only variable in the perfect matches I had foreseen, so it looks like we’re winning tonight.”

“And all you had to do was talk to me,” Martin laughed.

Before Sergio could respond, the production team gave the house a 15 minute warning that the match up ceremony was starting. “I need to let everyone know who they are selecting tonight. Please don’t fuck this up again,” he pleaded.

“You have my word,” Martin promised.

As everyone was gathering into the kitchen around Alicia, she told everyone what the mess on the table represented. Sergio, without looking at the matches behind him, quickly told everyone what their symbol was on the table and alerted them to find their partners while he quickly changed.

“Why am I mayonnaise?” He heard Daniel whine from afar as he ran up the stairs to put on his suit for the ceremony with a hint of a smile on his face. Not only was he going to win the game for everyone, but the words from Raquel’s sultry whisper flooded his mind as he began to button up his dress shirt.

_“New York....”_

His mind flashed back to one of their last conversations in the house a couple of days before her shocking departure.

_"We haven’t really talked about what happens right after the show,” Raquel said while cuddling her naked body into his side during one of the rare quiet moments they were alone in the private bedroom while the rest of the house were partying by the pool._

_We haven’t,” Sergio agreed, one hand moving up and down her back, reveling over how smooth her skin was under his fingers._

_“My mom’s treatment is in New York City in America,” she revealed. “I made the first appointment before the show aired and we plan to move there for five months. I even have Paula enrolled in an international school for one term.”_

_“Oh,” Sergio breathed in, realizing that they would be a continent apart after they were done filming. “I thought we were going to move in together…”_

_“Sorry, I completely forgot to let you know. I think all the orgasms that night filled my brain with clouds,” she laughed nervously._

_“Right…” he sighed, sad that their plans to live together were being put on hold._

_“And I don’t know if we’re going to win, but I have some savings and I’ll try to do some under the table work in America… I have to do this,” she explained._

_“I know you do,” Sergio attempted to smile._

_“I never saw this happening,” Raquel frowned. “I never expected to fall in love…”_

_“Of course,” Sergio nodded. “Neither did I.”_

_After a few minutes of awkward silence, she softly asked, “What if you came with me?”_

_“What?” Sergio nearly choked in shock._

_“I’m sorry,” she immediately apologized. “We’ve only known each other for seven weeks and here I am asking you to uproot your life for five months. You have a job and a-”_

_“Yes,” Sergio cut her off. “I would love to come with you,” he smiled, relieved that she had asked._

_“You actually want to travel across the ocean with a mom, grandmother and daughter and live in a foreign city?”_

_“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he breathed out. “I have contacts at Columbia University. I could probably transfer for a term to do my research,” He began to plot in his head. “And I have been wanting to take a semester off for a while to work on my book. This is actually perfect. There are sources I could access-”_

_“Don’t go all professor on me,” Raquel interrupted, attempting to hold in how much his willingness to move to another country with her so quickly was affecting her._

_“And we could travel to Canada, Mexico, Central America….”_

_“Sergio-”_

_“Sorry,” Sergio stopped himself. “Too much?”_

_“No,” she shook her head, delighted in his child-like excitement, tears filling her eyes over how much she loved the man next to her. “It’s only five months,” she laughed._

_“Maybe we stay longer….”_

_“If we win this show, we could...,” Raquel considered._

_“You’ll love New York,” he grinned. “I was there for a term during my masters, and it’s a wonderful city. We can go see the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, the Empire State Building…” he looked up at her amused smile as he listed off all of the places he looked forward to showing her. “I never had anyone to share it with before,” he admitted._

_“Oh Sergio,” Raquel’s eyes filled with tears as she positioned her naked body over his, running her hand through his hair tenderly. “I can’t wait,” she whispered while kissing his lips softly, letting it linger for a few extra seconds._

_“And I know this is crazy, but I’ve always wondered what it’s like to have sex at such a high altitude,” Sergio continued as her lips began to move from his lips to his cheek, his nose, his forehead._

_“No,” she quickly denied._

_But when she felt his pout on her cheek, she couldn’t help herself, “I’ll consider it.”_

_“So we’re doing this? Moving to New York?” Sergio asked in disbelief as he hugged her body to his, never wanting to let go of this overwhelming feeling of love he felt radiating between them._

_“Yes,” she whispered into his ear, leaving a soft kiss on his lobe. “We’re doing it.”_

Sergio smiled over the memory while he finished tightening his tie in the mirror and thought about the three words she added to inspire him to win this game a week early…

_“New York... and plane sex.”_

God, he loved that woman 

He put on his black suit jacket to complete his all black ensemble, grinning to himself over the fact that they’d be reuntioning in only a few minutes. If these past couple of weeks taught him anything, his days felt empty without her by his side, and he couldn’t wait for them to start a new life together. He only hoped nothing went off script tonight so they could start that life together tomorrow.

* * *

“Welcome to your ninth match-up ceremony,” Andres grinned as all of the contestants made their way on stage. He held back a smile when he saw his brother immediately search for Raquel and the two sharing a smile when they thought no one was looking. “This week is your second last chance to get all of the perfect matches, and say it with me…” he addressed the group.

“Win one million euros!!” everyone shouted in excitement. The air for this week’s ceremony was lighter as everyone was confident in their selected matches tonight. This was a rare moment of genuine excitement among the group.

“And let’s welcome back our three perfect matches,” Andres smiled to the three seated couples, “Angel and Mari Carmen; Anibal and Silene; and Raquel and Julia.” He moved his body towards Angel and Mari Carmen, “You both have been out of the house for the longest, how are you both feeling tonight?”

“Good,” Angel smiled. “We’ve been enjoying the honeymoon suite, making love at night and exploring the beaches during the day.”

The entire group grimaced when he said the words “making love”...

“What a liar,” Julia whispered to Raquel. They both spent the night with a crying Mari Carmen who was quickly realizing that Angel wasn’t as interested in her as he played up for the cameras.

“And Mari Carmen?” Andres addressed the shy woman to his side. “Has it been just as magical for you?”

She shrugged, “It’s been an enlightening couple of weeks,” she said criptically. “It’s been great having Julia and Raquel with us,” she tried to smile.

“Great,” Andres smiled and then turned his body to Raquel and Julia. “And how have you both been? Getting to know each other?”

“Yes,” Raquel smiled to the camera. “Julia and I have been having a lot of fun together,” she winked at the camera.

“Interesting,” Andres smiled but nearly broke out of his host persona when he saw how worried his brother looked over Raquel’s insinuation. “Any romance?”

“It’s still new,” Raquel revealed, “but who knows what the future will hold.”

What was she doing? Sergio wondered as she continued to grin straight at the camera. Did something happen over the past week? Were all of his efforts to win this game for them this week for nothing? He wished he could read her, but with her shoulders squared, her posture perfect and the smile never leaving her face, he wasn’t sure if this was an act for the cameras or… or… an option he didn’t want to voice in his head.

“Anibal!” Andres moved towards the third couple. “Have you and Silene been enjoying your time together?”

“Yes,” he grinned, smitten by the woman next to him. “We’ve been partying together all week and having so much fun together.”

“He gets a little jealous at times,” Silene interrupted, “But I like that,” she grinned wickedly. “This is an amazing island, but can you all win already so we can all party together again!? I miss you all!”

“Maybe today is that day,” Andres smiled coyly. “And on that note, let’s get right into it tonight. I’m loving the energy,” he grinned at the group. “Alicia, why don’t you start us off tonight, beautiful?”

Everyone cheered as she walked on stage, in a tight red dress that framed her body perfectly. “Hi Andres,” she smiled.

“You had an interesting week,” Andres noted. “In one day, you punched, slapped and went on a date with Sofia. How was that?”

Raquel nearly fell out of her chair over the announcement. As much as she loved how relaxing it was in the honeymoon suite, she had to admit she hated missing all of the excitement in the house.

“Sofia wasn’t that bad on the date. I really got to know a side of her that she doesn’t show most people and I think she’s a wonderful person…”

“Really?” Andres asked skeptically. 

“No,” Alicia laughed. “She’s terrible. She spent the whole date scowling at me for giving her a black eye and telling me to stay away from Sergio. As if he and I are a couple?” she started to hyperventilate during laughs. “It was the worst and funniest three hours of my life.”

“Okay then,” Andres attempted to follow along with her joke. “I take it you won’t be choosing her tonight…”

“I’d rather be electrocuted while floating in the sky with an umbrella like fucking Mary Poppins,” she said, fake sweetness dripping from her voice. 

“That’s… very specific,” Andres blinked, taken aback by how violent her words were. “Who is your perfect match tonight?

“Andres, tonight my perfect match is Agata,” she smiled genuinely.

“Woo!” Agata cheered as she ran on stage, immediately hugging Alicia.

“Is this a thing?” Andres asked, pointing between the two women?

“Yes,” Alicia smiled proudly. “Who knew the two people rejected by Raquel and Sergio would find love in each other?” She grinned, kissing Agata softly in the lips in front of everyone for the first time.

“The Serquel Rejects,” Agata joked. “We’ll be producing t-shirts after the show.”

“That’s romantic?” Andres attempted to understand.

“Very,” Alicia nodded happily, taking Agata’s hand in hers and threading their fingers before locking in and taking their spot on one of the perfect match chairs. Both women laughed sheepishly when they saw Raquel cheering excitedly behind them. 

“Martin,” Andres smiled at the smug man who was standing next to Sergio with his hands in his pockets, utterly bored by the display of love in front of him. 

The group cheered again as he walked to centre stage, the positivity in the air even causing the man to smile when he heard his name shouted by a few of his fellow contestants.

“Hello,” he greeted curtly.

“Who is your perfect match tonight?”

“Tonight, my perfect match is…” he paused for a moment, deliberately prolonging the moment for dramatic effect (and to piss off Sergio), “Hel-” he began but then looked back at Sergio who was glaring at him. “Sergio, get up here,” he laughed.

“A perfect match?” Andres asked, having to hold back at a laugh; he’d been waiting for this moment all summer. 

“He’s got a dick, and that’s enough for me,” Martin shrugged.

“For god’s sakes,” Sergio rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what matchmaker thought _this_ was a perfect match, but for the game, yes it is.”

“You guys just have to give love a chance,” Andres attempted to stay on script but it was taking all of his strength not to start laughing on stage over how ridiculous these two were together. 

Raquel watched the scene closely, her eyes never leaving Andres who was clearly amused by the pairing – almost as if he had planned it for his own amusement. Her mind went into overdrive as she attempted to put together the puzzle pieces while the remaining contestants, including Monica/Daniel, Sofia/Suarez, Helsinki/Marseilles, locked in with their perfect matches.

Sergio, on the other hand, was focused solely on the matches, feeling as if something was off but couldn’t pinpoint it as his mind was muddied by all of the ridiculous things that came out of Martin’s mouth.

“Let’s do this,” Andres grinned. “This is your ninth attempt, and let’s see if this is the week you all win one million euros.”

Everyone’s eyes went straight to the beams as the lights went down, hopeful that they had won with this combination of matches.

A fourth beam lit up.

“You haven’t lost any money,” Andres announced while looking back at the group.

A fifth beam lit up. 

The group began to stand, holding on to the person next to them as they waited.

A sixth beam.

Cheers erupted from the group. 

“We got this!!!” Agata grinned. “Seven, seven, seven,” she began to chant, encouraging the rest of the group to join in as they stared at the beams in anticipation. 

After a few seconds, the house lights came back up signifying they had two incorrect matches.

“Fuck,” Alicia groaned. 

“Six correct matches,” Andres smiled. “And you have one more chance!” He attempted to encourage all of the disappointed faces in front of him. “Hey, you are all on track to win this. You can figure this out,” he attempted to motivate the group to keep the same spirit they had this week going into next.

“You lied to us, Sergio,” Suarez glared at the man. “You said you would figure this out.”

“Maybe if the dates had gone the way we had planned, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he clapped back but knew it was a lie as he was certain Martin was his match. Where did he go wrong?

“No need to blame anyone,” Andres stepped in. “You’re all playing this together and you need to work together to win.” He chimed in and then said his goodbyes to the group.

One more week, Sergio groaned. How was he going to survive this for another seven days? As the production team began to clear equipment from the stage, he saw Raquel laughing with Alicia and Agata. He couldn’t help but stare at her longingly; she was looking sensational in a black strapless bodycon dress, his hands yearning to be around her. However, his mind quickly flashed back to her words about Julia and he was unsure of how to approach her. Was she feeling a connection with her? His heart felt like it was going to stop beating at the thought.

“I’m so happy for you both!!” Raquel screeched, pulling Alicia and Agata into a tight hug. “And happy enough that I’ll ignore the ‘rejected by serquel’ remark,” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“It’s true,” Agata laughed. “But I’m starting to think I went after the wrong half of serquel. You look STUNNING tonight,” Agata gushed.

“Hey,” Alicia stopped her playfully.

“You agree,” she laughed.

“She can join us in bed,” Alicia shrugged.

“Stop it,” Raquel blushed.

“So, you and Julia? I need details,” Agata commented.

“That was for the show. We’ve barely talked all week. She has spent more time with Mari Carmen than me,” Raquel revealed.

“Whew,” Alicia breathed out. “Sergio has been working his ass off to win this game and I didn’t want to have to punch you on his behalf,” she warned.

“Since when are you so defensive for him?” Raquel asked curiously.

“He and I have been working together to try and win this. Turns out he isn’t so bad after all. Who knew,” she shrugged.

“I’m happy to hear that,” Raquel smiled and then immediately frowned when she looked over to see Sergio standing awkwardly on his own, staring at the three of them. “You don’t think he thinks-”

“You fooled us, mama,” Alicia revealed.

“Shit,” Raquel sighed. “Excuse me,” she walked away and towards a tense Sergio who was now standing in front of the beams with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” she greeted softly. 

“Hi,” he replied tensely and then turned his focus back to the six beams of light, mocking him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it right.”

“That’s okay,” she immediately assured him. “We are on track to win this.”

“Maybe,” he breathed out softly without a centimetre of confidence in his tone.

“What I said about Julia was for the show. She’s been spending her week with Mari Carmen and I’ve been working on my squat technique,” she revealed while taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. “Nothing has changed for me… has it for you?” she asked, her eyes masked with vulnerability.

He pulled her towards him and, without missing step, kissed her fiercely, his lips conveying how desperate he was for her. “How could you think that?” he breathed into her mouth.

“I hate this,” She voiced, capturing his lips into a second kiss. He was the first to open his mouth to deepen the kiss by stroking her tongue with his, his hands finding their way to her hips, loving how soft the fabric of her dress felt under his fingers. Her hands were gripping his scalp as the two lost themselves in the familiar sensation of their kisses. “I don’t want to leave you again…”

“What if you missed your ride by accident?” he suggested, his lips capturing hers in a soft kiss. 

“I wish,” she looked up at him, her eyes teasing and regretful. “So… Martin?” she asked as he held her close to him, both of them unwilling to break contact.

“My brother’s work,” Sergio revealed. “Martin knew from the beginning and never told me…”

“Oh,” Raquel blinked. “Why wouldn’t he…”

“He says I never would have made a move on you if I had known…” Sergio responded and then smiled shyly. “And he’s probably right.”

“Then I’m glad he didn’t tell you,” Raquel grinned. “Because I can’t imagine a version of playing this game where I don’t fall madly in love with you,” she confessed while bringing her hand to his cheek to caress it, focusing her attention of his beautiful beard.

Sergio could feel tears filling in his eyes over her confession, “Me too,” he whispered and kissed her one last time before he knew the inevitable announcement that her ride was leaving would come soon -- this week’s reunion nowhere near as satisfying as last week’s.

“Why did your brother want Martin’s match to be you?” Raquel asked as they broke apart, her mind back on the puzzle she was trying to solve.

“Martin is his fiance,” Sergio whispered in her ear to ensure no one overheard. “He was a last minute casting change… at least according to Martin.”

“And your brother didn’t want…”

“I guess not,” he shrugged as if it were nothing. 

“Hmmm…” Raquel thought to herself, not realizing she’d voiced her confusion out loud.

“What’s going on up there?” Sergio asked while bringing his hand to her head.

“Nothing,” Raquel quickly denied, not wanting to distract him with any theories while he was on track to win this game for everyone. 

“Raquel,” a young PA reluctantly interrupted the couple. “It’s time to go.”

“Give me a minute,” Raquel brushed him off and returned her attention to Sergio. “Don’t be too hard on yourself for this week. We have one more chance, love,” she whispered encouragingly while bringing both of his hands to her mouth to kiss them. 

“Okay,” Sergio smiled down at their joined hands. 

“And my promise from last week transfers to this week,” she wiggled her eyebrows playfully. “Even if I think it’s crazy…” she rolled her eyes jokingly.

“You’ll love it,” he promised.

“Raquel!” She heard Benito’s voice from the other side of the stage. 

“I love you, you can do this, and we’ll see each other soon,” she winked before chastely kissing his lips for the last time, reluctantly pulling away from him walking towards the other perfect matches.

Sergio watched her get into the car after Silene longingly. Seven more days. He could do this, he attempted to encourage himself as he walked into the house somberly, hating that he had to say goodbye to her again after only a few short minutes. 

“Hey,” Alicia patted his arm sympathetically. “You were so close…”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, disappointed he hadn’t achieved his goal. “Wait,” he stopped at the table. Did someone switch the spatula and the sugar?”

“What?” Alicia asked, confused.

“The spatula and the sugar. I had them positioned differently. Shit…” he quickly realized. “Sofia was supposed to sit with Marseilles and Helsinki and Suarez are the perfect match. Someone must have switched this right before… I knew something wasn’t right.”

“Sofia,” Alicia rolled her eyes. “No wonder she was looking like a kid in a candy store all night.”

“Doesn’t she want to win?!” Sergio questioned the utter stupidity in her to sabotage the game this late while running a shaky hand through his hair. “How do we win with her?”

“Leave her to me,” Alicia promised. “For now, come and celebrate six matches with all of us. We’ll win this, Sergio.”

“I hope so,” he sighed as he followed her to the living room just in time to join the rest of the contestants in a toast for the final week.

* * *

Raquel’s mind was swirling with what Sergio had just revealed. Martin was Andres’ fiancé. And Sergio knew that the whole time and never connected the dots that they’d be a match. It was nearly as comical as it was frustrating. 

As she and the rest of the perfect matches walked into their small apartment complex, she pulled Angel back. “We need to talk,” she stopped him from following Mari Carmen and Julia.

“Are you finally-” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Of course not,” she shuddered. “Who told you about Radko and Martin?”

“Not this again,” he sighed. “Raquel, let it go. It changes nothing.

“No, you investigated to try and convince me that Sergio was playing me and I should leave him,” she stared at him intensely. Her eyes were not even blinking as she attempted to convey how annoyed she was by his actions. However, if his jealousy could reveal why this game seemed to be so against her and Sergio being together, then at least his jackassery was useful. 

“And you should,” Angel shrugged. “He knew Martin was Andres’ fiancé before going into the house. He’s not that dumb…he played you for good TV...”

“He didn’t know,” Raquel confirmed. “And that’s not what we’re talking about here. Who did you talk to?”

“Raquel…” he groaned. “Don’t do this,” he pleaded.

“Why don’t you want me to look into this?”

“No reason,” Angel shrugged, almost too quickly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he attempted lamely.

“Please,” she pleaded. 

Angel realized how desperate she was to get to the bottom when he saw her begin to deflate in front of him – her shoulders slumped forward, her eyes glazed with pain and her teeth chewing her bottom lip nervously. Seeing how much she needed this, he decided to stop standing in her way. She would never be his, he accepted. The least he could do was give her what she wanted.

“Don’t say I don’t care about you,” he breathed out bitterly, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and putting it in her hands. “It’s two different call sheets,” he explained before turning away from her and walking into his apartment, slamming the door behind him causing Raquel to jump.

Raquel looked down at the double sided sheet of paper, a photocopy of the original 1x01 call sheet, realization dawning as she saw a V2 in the corner of one of them.

Holy shit...

* * *

The final week moved quicker than normal for the houseguests as they were counting down the days until the final match up ceremony. Alicia and Agata were no longer hiding their odd but cute relationship from the group. Daniel was back to laughing about everything, his chuckle jarring and cutting through the walls each time he did. Marseilles silently spent time on his own per usual, but he and Sofia began a conversation about animal rescues one day and appeared to be getting along – much to the shock of everyone in the house. She almost seemed human around him. Helsinki spent his time with Agata and Alicia or Martin, always with a smile on his face over how wonderful the whole experience had been. Sergio, figuring out the perfect matches, used the week to focus on his workout routine. He even worked out side by side with Suarez a few times which led to Suarez admitting he was a jerk to Raquel because she bruised his ego, and he’d do what he could to help him win the money. All in all, it wasn’t the worst week in the house, and it gave Sergio hope that they could finally pull together and win this.

On the morning before the final match up ceremony, Andres walked into the house with a huge smile on his face. “Hello everyone!” he greeted the group who were all gathered in the living room waiting for him. “How are we feeling this week?”

“Fantastic!” Agata smiled. “It’s been one of the most chill weeks in the house.”

“I agree,” Monica smiled. “But I have to admit, I’m going to miss living with all of you. I’m loving our dysfunctional family.”

“Please don’t tell us you’re adding another week,” Alicia groaned.

“No,” Andres laughed. “Last week, I told you all there wouldn’t be another Truth Booth ceremony because we had the special ceremony a few weeks back. But we still wanted to send you ALL on one final date,” he announced.

The group cheered, except Sergio who had a permanent scowl on his face at the thought of another drunken group date.

“This time, we have bought out the Banana Club in Alcudia for you to enjoy a night of drinks, dancing and whatever else your heart desires.”

The group cheered, elated to have a special final night together outside of the house.

“Have a great time tonight!” He smiled. “The bus will be here in three hours to pick you up, so I suggest you start getting ready now.”

Everyone stood up and began to run around in excitement. A change in scenery was exactly what they needed for their final night together.

“Sergio,” Andres whispered. “Don’t look too thrilled.”

“You know how much I love partying,” he rolled his eyes. 

“I think you’ll have fun tonight,” he smirked. “Let’s just say we have a few surprises,” he teased cryptically while waving to the camera operators to follow the action of everyone getting ready. “See you tomorrow, brother,” he patted him on the arm and left the room.

He really hated it when his brother had that look in his eyes. That meant he knew the “surprises” would be to his own benefit – getting enjoyment of watching him suffer in front of cameras.

Fucking great.

The only comfort was knowing this was the last night of this absurdity.

* * *

Sergio walked into the club, wearing a navy blue short-sleeve button shirt and a pair of freshly washed dark jeans. The cacophony that pretended to be music smacked him like he was being hit in the head with a baseball bat after five seconds standing in the dark entrance.

“Bandido” by Myke Towers was blaring through the speakers, causing the group to sway their hips as they made their way to the bar. The club was decorated luxuriously with golds and whites everywhere you looked. The show was really using all of its budget to make sure they captured a special night among the contestants that fit the aesthetic of the show.

The lights, the music, and the way everyone had to shout over the music to talk to each other had Sergio standing in the corner on his own, wishing he had brought his ear plugs. He’d be surprised if he heard anything but base for the next five days with the unhealthy amount of decibels his ears were being forced to endure.

“SERGIO!” Agata yelled from the dance floor. “YOU ARE NOT STANDING AROUND LIKE A TREE TONIGHT! GET OVER HERE!”

Sergio shook his head in denial and held up his hands to politely decline.

When “Limbo” by Daddy Yankee filled the room, Agata and Monica ran over to Sergio and dragged him onto the dance floor. 

“IT’S OUR LAST NIGHT. YOU ARE HAVING FUN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!” Agata yelled over the music as she began to move her body around his. “I WON’T STOP UNTIL YOU MOVE THOSE HIPS.”

Sergio couldn't help but laugh at the way she was jokingly moving her hips around him. Playfully rolling his eyes, he suddenly began to move his body in the same way she was, eliciting laughs and screams from everyone around him.

“MY PERFECT MATCH, EVERYONE!” Martin shouted between laughs, joining Sergio, Agata and Monica who were now jumping around to the beat, giggling together as the positive atmosphere was bringing out the best in everyone. Even Sofia was swaying her hips in between Suarez and Marseilles with a genuine smile on her face.

As a remix of “Me Gusta” began to play, everyone screamed when they saw Silene run on the dance floor in time for Cardi B’s verse, singing “Bad bitches me gustan todita.”

“SILENE!” Agata screamed in glee as she ran over to hug her friend. “Is the gang all back together?!”

“Yep!! The rest are still doing their interviews, but I couldn’t wait and pushed my way to the front. I miss you, friend!” She hugged and kissed both cheeks. 

“Sergio!” Silene smiled when she saw the professor attempting to keep up with Martin and Daniel. She missed watching him failing miserably at having even an ounce of rhythm. 

His eyes lit up when he said to her and immediately hugged her. “Silene,” he greeted happily, “You look great,” he complimented.

“Wait until you see your girlfriend-” she began to tease but lost his attention mid sentence when he almost tripped over her foot. 

“Wow…” he involuntarily voiced as Raquel walked into the room, the combination of the blue, yellow and red lights illuminating her. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her body with three peek-a-boo cut-outs along her abs. And her breasts… that dress couldn’t handle those cylinder shaped orbs. Not that Sergio was complaining.

“Fuck,” Alicia’s eyes widened as Raquel walked towards them, her smile widening seeing everyone together on the dance floor.

“You can look…” Agata whispered to Alicia. “Because I’m looking too,” she gawked.

“What are you all looking at?” Raquel yelled over the music, suddenly feeling subconscious, her hands moving to cover her cleavage. 

“YOU ARE FUCKING SMOKIN’ MAMA,” Silene yelled. “I won a bet and chose her dress tonight, so you can all thank me for this.”

“Thank you,” Sergio automatically responded without thinking about what he’d done, his eyes never leaving Raquel’s body.

“I think you broke the professor,” Silene joked. 

“She broke all of us,” Alicia laughed.

Raquel, suddenly feeling shy, moved to hug Sergio, trying to hide from everyone’s stares. “Hi,” she whispered in his ear, leaving a soft kiss on his cheek.

Everyone’s attention went back to the music when Shaggy’s “The Girl Next Door” came on, everyone singing the English words, “It wasn’t me” and laughing as they danced.

Raquel moved her hands up Sergio’s chest and rested them around his neck, moving her hips tantalizingly with his. “You’re improving,” she whispered. 

“You look amazing,” Sergio’s eyes were glazed with lust, unable to hide the way he desired her in front of everyone. 

Raquel blushed, leaving a kiss on his shoulder in gratitude over how sexy she always felt in his presence. 

“It’s been 10 days,” he whispered desperately in her ear as a new song came on that had everyone dancing around happily.

“Sergio…” she warned but her hands tightened around his neck, her body unable to hide how much she yearned for him. “I’ve only been here for 10 minutes,” she attempted to diffuse the attraction between them as cameras were making their way around the room to capture the final party. 

As she was losing the battle between common sense and her libido and the two began to move closer and closer… they were suddenly jarred by cold liquid being poured on them.

“What the fuck!?” Raquel jumped back.

“Hey!” Sergio yelled at the same time.

“There are other people here,” Martin passed the glass to Alicia who couldn’t stop laughing.

“A little too much heat, guys,” Agata laughed. “We had to put it out before this show got an X rating.”

“Fuck you,” Raquel frowned, taking a paper towel from Monica to try her arms and the side of her dress. “Thanks Mon,” she smiled at her friend. 

“It’s just water,” Martin rolled his eyes. “Now, can you both enjoy our last night without trying to fuck each other on the dance floor?!”

“We weren’t-” Sergio attempted to deny…

“Don’t even try to deny it,” Alicia rolled her eyes. 

When IDOL by BTS began to play, the group returned their attention back to the party, dancing together again. This time, Raquel joined the girls while Sergio went to the bar with Marseilles and Helsinki. 

“We weren’t that bad, were we?” Sergio questioned while taking a sip of beer.

“Uhh…” Helsinki stuttered. 

“I don’t blame you, brother,” Marseilles grinned. “She’s looking like a-”

“Don’t finish that thought,” Sergio warned. 

Marseilles laughed, “You’re a lucky man. I’m the poor bastard who matched with Sofia.”

The three men moved their eyes to the blonde who was dancing on her own in front of the cameras, attempting to seduce the camera operator to give her more time. 

“I got Suarez,” Helsinki frowned.

“And I got Martin,” Sergio joined in, watching his “perfect match” spin Silene on the dance floor.

“This show sucks,” Marseilles concluded while laughing into his beer. “But you get to leave with Raquel after this, so I’d say you won…”

“I did,” Sergio smiled as he watched her laughing with Julia and Monica as they all attempted to mimic a chicken? Sergio wasn’t sure, but one thing he did know was every time her arms flapped, her dress would begin to ride up… “Excuse me,” he said while putting his glass down and walking up to Raquel.

“Hey,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

“Babe…” she smiled while bringing her right arm behind his head and bringing his lips over her shoulder to hers for a brief kiss. “There’s an office upstairs, I’ll meet you there in five minutes?”

“Make it two,” he whispered, leaving a kiss on her cheek as he backed away from her and found a path to the office where the cameras couldn’t follow his movement. When he went to open the door, however, it was locked.

Quickly, Raquel was behind him with a bobby pin in her hand, “You’re not a cop for 15 years without knowing how to break into a room,” she grinned playfully. Within seconds, the door was open, and the two quickly walked in, closed and locked the door and turned on the desk lamp for light. 

The office was well decorated with a glass desk, a 20” iMac, a large black executive chair and provocative paintings on the walls. 

Wasting no time, Sergio pushed Raquel against the desk, crashing his lips on hers, eliciting a surprised squeal as his lips attacked hers. 

“Sergio,” she tried to stop him but the second she felt his tongue on her lower lip, she opened her mouth to give him access. He wasted no time greedily exploring her mouth, savouring the way she tasted of red wine and a hint of tequila. 

Raquel’s hands were gripping his scalp as they kissed hungrily, the longing they felt throughout another week apart causing them both to lose control in each other’s arms. 

“Sergio,” Raquel tried again as they two were gasping for breath after a few minutes of eating each other’s mouths like a five course meal after three days of fasting. “I didn’t bring you up here for that…”

When he looked at her skeptically, she laughed. “Okay, not _just_ that… the game.”

“Matches are figured out,” Sergio brushed her off and went back to putting all of his attention on her lips.

“Are you sure?” she asked between kisses.

“Yes,” he continued kissing her with abandon, their mouths moving together messily again, unable to get enough of each other.

“Sergio,” she pushed him back in an attempt to regain control. “Are you sure?”

“I had them right last week,” he revealed, “Sofia swapped two of the matches when I wasn’t looking. It won’t happen again,” he assured her.

“How do you know she’s going to listen this week?” Raquel asked, her tone unsure.

“Alicia is on it,” he promised. 

“Okay,” Raquel sighed, relieved that the house seemed to finally be ready to win this game. 

“I wish more than anything I could be standing next to you tomorrow night,” Sergio confessed.

“Me too,” Raquel smiled, touched by his words.

“I know this show doesn’t make any sense and it shouldn’t bother me that you weren’t the one chosen for me, but…”

“We’ve been in this weird world so long,” Raquel understood, smiling over how messy his hair was while his mouth and beard were stained with her lipstick. 

“Yeah,” Sergio sighed as his hands moved behind her dress, slowly pulling the zipper down her back.

“If I was your perfect match, what would you do?” Raquel asked, licking her lips seductively as he began to push the strap of her dress down her arms. 

“First, I would admire your perfect body like it’s Francisco Goya painting in The Prado Museum,” he whispered in her ear, his hands slowly making their way down her arms, leaving her covered in goosebumps.

Raquel stood up, shuffling out of the dress, only a black lace thong gracing her body. “And then what?” she asked, her voice breaking slightly, overcome with desire.

Sergio brought his hands to cover her breasts, “I’d suck on these like they are a perfectly ripe peach that has fallen from the tree on a hot summer day,” he replied, bringing his lips to her right breast first, leaving kisses all over it before opening his mouth over her stiff nipple, licking around it before taking as much of her in his mouth as he could.

“Oh, I like that,” Raquel’s eyes rolled back as the pleasure from his tongue all over her nipples was becoming nearly unbearable.

“Perfect,” he whispered while giving her left breast the same attention.

“And then?” Raquel asked during a low moan as his teeth grazed her nipple lightly, sending a wave of pleasure throughout her body.

Sergio brought his hands to her underwear, pushing them down her legs slowly while admiring her perfectly smooth, soft and defined legs, getting on his knees as he did. “I’d eat this like it’s the perfect three course dinner from CEBO,” he whispered, his hands spreading her legs apart as she sat on the table, ready for him. “I’d start with some light appetizers,” he informed her while leaving wet kisses along her left inner thigh towards her main course. His head moved to her right leg, “a second appetizer,” he teased, his tongue creating a wet path to her centre.

“I’ve never been to CEBO,” she told him through deep breaths as she could feel herself dampening with every light touch in her inner thighs.

“I’ll take you when we’re in Madrid,” he replied casually, looking at her legs spread apart, his tongue licking his bottom lip with desire, “But it has nothing on the way you taste,” he whispered, his mouth slowly making its way towards her. He started by kissing her “lips” and then slowly licking along her slit. “Perfect,” he breathed on her, his warm breath causing her eyes to roll back in pleasure. “I’d savour my main course all night long…” he smirked, bringing his mouth back to her, kissing along her slit slowly.

“We don’t have all night, darling,” she warned him. 

He licked along her again, this time adding more pressure, eliciting a moan from her. “Okay, tonight the meal is so good I can’t put my fork down,” he teased playfully, his mouth returning to her slit, licking around the nub that was driving her wild with pleasure. Her hands moved to his head, pushing herself into his mouth as he munched on her perfectly crafted dish. As his tongue began to flick her clit slowly, brought a finger to her, sliding it into her wetness with ease, his long finger moving in and out of her as he sucked on her clit and all of her folds surrounding it. 

When her breaths grew shallower, he added a second finger, pumping in and out of her while his tongue fluttered over her clit.

“SERGIO!” She screamed as her body shook in ecstasy over the pleasure she could feel hitting two powerful nerve endings with purpose.

When she pushed herself into his mouth one last time and arched her back, she could feel the firework bursting through her body, causing her to shake uncontrollably over his mouth and fingers. 

As she caught her breath, he continued to lightly clean up all of her juices that flowed out of her while she came, enjoying a wonderful dessert after such a tasty dinner. 

“And that’s what I’d do if you were my perfect match,” he joked, standing back up while Raquel attempted to catch her breath. 

“One of these days, you’re going to have to let me worship you all over…”

“Maybe I’ll wear this dress,” he teased playfully, picking up the piece of material that caused all of this to unfold. She threw it out of his hands while standing up, grabbing his hand and bringing him to the executive chair, pushing him on it in one quick motion.

“Undo your pants,” she commanded.

“Raquel,” he attempted to stop her.

“Just think of it like you’re my boss…”

“Or how about you’re _my_ boss,” he offered.

“I like that better,” she grinned while getting on her knees, pulling his pants down to free his hard cock. “I guess I need to reward you for answering all of my emails efficiently,”

They two of them couldn’t help but laugh over her poor attempt at “boss dirty talk.”

She put her hand on him, stroking him for a few seconds, running a finger along his slit to coat him in his own liquid. 

“And if you were my perfect match,” she looked up at him, forgetting their roleplay joke, “I’d suck you like it was a perfect, thick. juicy popsicle on a hot summer day,” she whispered while bringing her mouth to him. “And it would melt in my mouth, the second I wrapped my lips around it,” she whispered into his sex before wrapping her mouth around it, running her tongue around his length. 

His hand moved to the side of her head, his fingers threaded in her hair as she suctioned him with her lips while moving up and down along him, taking him deeper in her mouth every every stroke.

“Raquel,” he moaned as she increased her pace, losing himself in the feeling of her mouth on him. She looked up at him as she licked up his entire length, loving the way he was becoming undone by her mouth. The professor, usually in control of everything in his life, was shifting in his chair uncontrollably whole her mouth was all over him, kissing the top of his slit down to his balls and lightly taking them in her mouth. 

When she felt his body getting closer and closer to the point of no return, she suctioned him again in her mouth, moving up and down at an increasing speed.

“Raquel, I’m about to-” he attempted to warn her and even tried to push her off, so he could let go, but she only responded by suctioning him even harder and continuing her ministrations on his cock. With one final suck, he burst into her mouth, coating her with his own liquid and without hesitation, she licked it up like a melting popsicle, not wanting to lose a drop of its sweetness. 

“Raquel,” he called her name in between gasps. “You didn’t-”

She smirked and released his softening cock from her mouth, “Sometimes, I like a good main course meal too.”

Sergio stood up and zipped up his pants while Raquel put her panties and dress back on, “Can you zip me up?” she asked.

He nodded, walking up behind her as she held her hair up and slowly pulled her zipper up. “I love this dress,” he complimented once it was back on her body.

“I got that,” she laughed, “It’s Silene’s, but maybe she’ll let me have it.”

‘I’ll pay her,” Sergio offered, moving his hands to rest on her hips from behind.

“We should get back to the party,” Raquel smiled sadly. 

“I’ll go check to make sure no one is around,” Sergio pointed to the door. When he was out of sight, Raquel grabbed a piece of paper and a notepad from the owner’s desk, writing a quick note on it before leaving the office. When her body was met with Sergio’s in the darkness, she placed the paper in his left pocket delicately and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I’m thankful this show brought you in my life,” she whispered in his ear. “I love you.”

Sergio brought his hands up to meet hers on his chest, threading their fingers together, loving how affectionate she was after a good orgasm, “I love you too.”

The two quickly joined the others on the dance floor, no one even bothering to ask where they’d been for nearly an hour when the sexual tension that was igniting between them earlier seemed to have calmed as the two danced happily in each other’s arms surrounded by their friends. 

“They’re pathetic,” Alicia grinned as she and Agata danced together to “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande.

“I’ve never seen two people more in love with each other,” Agata smiled when Sergio kissed Raquel briefly during a pause in the song, the two grinning to each other as if no one else existed in the room. “It’s a shame they weren’t a perfect match.”

“Yeah…” Alicia nodded. “They should have been, and if you tell anyone I said that…”

“You’ll rip out my vagina and sell it on the Asian black market?”

“Are my threats really getting that predictable?” she pouted, kissing her (now official) girlfriend before going back to grinding together on the dance floor.

On the bus back to their house a couple of hours later, everyone was silent after saying goodbye to the perfect matches. It had been the perfect night and everyone was content with the final party. Even Sergio who couldn’t stop grinning after such an amazing night with Raquel. As the bus turned into the mansion, he could feel something foreign in his pocket. Putting his hand in, he took out a wrinkled piece of paper. He turned the light on above his seat and read the message, “ _I love you, my original perfect match”_ with a heart drawn next to it.

What? Sergio looked at it again as if the longer he stared at it, the clearer her message would be, but was left with nothing but confusion.

He then turned it around to read “I believe in you. Win this for us - Raquel.” 

“I will,” he promised, smiling at the piece of paper like a lovesick teenager not letting his mind focus on her cryptic message until the words “you all won one million euros” came out of Andres’ mouth tomorrow.

* * *

It was finally here.

The final match-up ceremony. 

Their last chance to win one million euros.

“Welcome everyone,” Andres greeted in a black tuxedo, looking his best for the most exciting night on the show. “We’re finally here! The final match-up ceremony. And you’re all looking amazing tonight,” he complimented the contestants who were all dressed like they were about to attend a black tie gala after this.

“How was the final house date last night?” he asked, and grinned when everyone cheered happily except Angel who had spent the night sitting at a table for one while Julia showed Mari Carmen a good time all night.

“Fantastic!” Andres grinned, especially when, for the first time, Sergio wasn’t scowling at him during one of these group questions. His brother looked happy. He supposed a night with Raquel was exactly what he needed as a boost to win this game.

"Let’s stop wasting time, and it’s time to see if you’re going to win one million euros!”

“WE ARE!” Agata shouted from the back row, causing everyone to break out in laughter.

“I love the enthusiasm,” Andres grinned. “Sofia, why don’t you start us off?” he asked.

 _Shit._ Sergio’s heart sank as their win depended on her getting over her ego and doing what was best for the group. Why couldn’t they have her choose last, Sergio whined to himself.

He looked at Alicia who’s eyes were on Sofia, threatening her to choose correctly.

“Hi Andres,” Sofia smiled when she made it to centre stage in a tight white silk dress.

“You’ve definitely had quite the journey in this house,” he laughed.

“Every show needs a villain,” she smirked. 

“Are you going to be the villain or hero tonight? Who is your perfect match?”

“I could be a bitch and choose Sergio,” she laughed, looking back at Raquel who’s hand was automatically going into slap formation. “But… Andres, my perfect match in this game is Marseille.”

When she said the quiet man’s name, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Madre mia,” Raquel breathed out to Julia. “I was terrified for a second…”

Andres smiled genuinely at the pair, “Lock in you two,” he instructed the couple and then looked at Monica. “Come on down, beautiful.”

“Hi Andres,” she grinned when she reached centre stage.

“You seemed to have found love pretty early on in this game and have rarely sat apart from Daniel. Are you confident you’re a perfect match?”

“I am,” Monica smiled. “I asked for someone who didn’t take life so seriously and would help me do the same. Daniel’s definitely the most immature person I have dated, but we have so much fun together, and I couldn’t have asked for a better match.”

“Awwwww,” the group collectively cooed together. 

“Let’s make it official,” Andres grinned. “Monica, who is your perfect match?”

“Andres, my perfect match is Daniel.”

“Whoo!!” the younger man screamed and sprinted to centre stage, jumping next to Monica. “This is my girl, Andres,” he beamed.

“Nice suit!” Andres complimented the man on his all white suit.

“You know they call me ranch because I be dressing!” he “rapped” while posing in his suit, causing Monica to laugh.

“YOU’RE AN IDIOT!” Alicia yelled from behind him, the entire group laughing over how ridiculous he was.

“I’m not even going to touch that,” Andres shook his head in disbelief. “Lock in you two crazy lovebirds,” he chuckled. “Suarez,” he called next.

“Hey Andres,” Suarez smirked as he got to centre stage. 

“You’ve also had quite the winding road in this game,” he summarized.

“I was a jerk, you mean” he corrected him, smiling.

“That is also a way of putting it,” Andres nodded. 

“I played this game with my ego and as a player…” He admitted, “But I got lucky getting a perfect match who’s been like a brother to me. No one knows this, but this person and I became friends on day one, and he always put me in my place after I fucked up. Even though I wasn’t always the nicest to him, I appreciate him and hope we can be friends after this.”

“He did?” Agata questioned to herself, confused by the revelation. 

“Interesting,” Andres nodded. “Who is your perfect match?”

“My perfect match is Helsinki,” he smiled, genuinely, for the first time during the game.

Everyone cheered as the burly man walked up to Andres. 

“Is this a perfect match?” Andres questioned.

“I don’t get it,” Helsinki laughed, everyone joining in, including Suarez. “But I guess this Bear can find happiness with a Bull,” he joked as the two locked in.

“And I’m not a twink!” Martin yelled from the back.

Andres looked straight at him, grinning ear to ear. He was definitely a twink, but he was _his_ twink. “Agata! Come on down, darling.”

“Andres,” she grinned when she took her position in front of him.

“You’ve also had quite the love journey during the game,” He remarked.

“I did,” she nodded. “I spent about four weeks thinking Sergio was my perfect match just to get dumped…” she let out an over exaggerated breath. “But there was always someone by my side saying some of the dumbest shit I have ever heard.” The group laughed at that. “But one week, we were a match by default and I think something clicked for both of us. As much as we wanted to deny it, we began to really like spending time together. And for the first time, I was patient,” She grinned. “ME! PATIENT! This is big all! Fucking cheer for me!” 

The group laughed but hollered and cheered as she demanded.

“And this person was worth the wait,” she smiled, tears filling her eyes. “I really wanted to find love in here, and the second I gave up on it, she and I woke up together in the boom boom room.”

Andres couldn’t help but laugh as the younger woman shared her experience. Some of the love connections in this house took him by surprise in the best way. “Who is your perfect match, Agata?” he finally got out.

“My perfect match is Alicia,” Agata grinned. 

“Hi Andres, I’m the one who says the dumb shit,” she smiled proudly.

“Lock in you two,” he shook his head in disbelief. “And that leaves Sergio and Martin,” Andres grinned as the two most important men in his life walked to centre stage together. 

“Is this a perfect match?” He asked.

“According to the math,” Sergio rolled his eyes.

“Of course it is,” Martin chimed in. “Sergio and are like olive oil and heat, we sizzle.”

The group began to laugh.

“But honestly, he’s like a brother to me,” he smiled. “And I’m proud to stand next to him,” he patted Sergio on the shoulder. 

“Lock in,” Andres shook his head over how ridiculous his fiance is. “It’s time,” he addressed the group who were all seated next to their perfect matches. “Did you win one million euros tonight?”

The lights went down one final time. The only thing that could be heard were the waves from the ocean behind them as everyone watched the beams of light in anticipation. 

“You are all starting with three beams of light with the perfect matches you have already identified,” he reminded them. “So let’s see if you got the remaining five correct tonight - for the million euros.”

Quickly, a fourth beam of light lit up to the sky followed by a fifth seconds later. The group cheered. 

“We got this,” Silene grinned, staring at the sixth light. “Come on…”

A sixth beam of light lit up. 

During a long pause, everyone stood up hoping their collective energy would bring up a seventh light.

“Oh no,” Agata sighed when the pause was nearly a minute long.

A seventh light beamed.

“WE WON!!!” Silene screamed.

Soon, the eighth and final light lit up, signifying that they’d won the game. They identified the matches and won one million euros.

“You did it!” Andres cheered with tears in his eyes. “I didn’t know if you all had it in you, but you did it! And you deserve it, congratulations!”

Everyone screamed in happiness, running into the closest person’s arms to hug them in glee over such a hard fought victory.

Raquel ran into Sergio’s arms in tears, “You did it!” she screeched.

“We did,” he grinned through tears, capturing her lips in a passionate victory kiss as everyone cheered, confetti fell onto the stage, and champagne bottles exploded over the contestants around them. 

They all just won one million euros. 

The game was officially over.

* * *

The next morning, after another night of partying and celebration, Raquel sat by the ocean looking out into the abyss, thinking about all of the mystery ahead of her that was hidden under the steady waves. Tomorrow, they were flying back to Mardid and then she would be picking up Paula from camp. Reality was starting to crash into her like a heavy ocean wave.

“Hi,” Sergio greeted, sitting next to Raquel. “How are you feeling?”

“Relieved,” Raquel admitted. “And a little hungover…”

“Same,” Sergio grinned while holding his head. “I’ve been meaning to ask you but we all got caught up in the celebration last night, but what did you mean by ‘original’ perfect match?”

Raquel smiled at his confused expression, “Martin wasn’t supposed to be on the show,” she revealed while staring out into the ocean. “The 16th contestant was supposed to be a man named Radko, but he had to drop out days before they started filming, so your brother got Martin to fill in.”

“And he didn’t want him to match with anyone in the house…” Sergio caught on.

“So he asked to have the matchmaker’s selections changed at the last minute so that he matched with you, figuring you wouldn’t find love in here anyway,” she continued and then handed him a piece of paper. “This was the original perfect match selection.”

Sergio unfolded the piece of paper and looked at the first two names on the list:

_Sergio Marquina and Raquel Murillo._

“How did you-” 

“Angel was jealous and did some investigating,” she laughed to herself. “I don’t think it went the way he hoped.”

“Wow,” Sergio took a deep breath. “So, you were meant to be my perfect match?”

“Yep,” Raquel nodded.

“And all of this was over a last minute casting change and my brother being jealous?”

“Yep,” she confirmed again, holding in a laugh. After a pause the two began to laugh together over how absurd it was.

“And we thought some weird conspiracy was working against us,” Sergio laughed as he stared at the piece of paper in disbelief.

“Crazy, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t need this to know you’re my match,” Sergio smiled, his eyes moving to focus on the beautiful woman next to him. “I knew the second I saw you rolling your eyes at my brother during the tour of the house that there was something different about you. I was gone from the start,” he laughed to himself over the first few weeks of denial. 

“That early?” Raquel looked at him in disbelief when he nodded. “The night you wiped blood from my nose, I felt butterflies for the first time in almost twenty years,” she confessed, smiling to herself.

“I thought you blacked out that night,” Sergio questioned, remembering how disappointed he was that she’d forgotten about their first tender moment together.

“I lied,” she shrugged. “I was so embarrassed by the way I was feeling that I had to pretend it never happened,” she confessed, embarrassed by her admission.

Sergio stood up as the water started getting closer to them and held up his hands to help her up. And then he did something that shocked her; he ripped up the piece of paper. 

“Sergio…”

“We don’t need this,” Sergio shook his head. “I wouldn’t change anything in this game because it led us here. We never stopped fighting for each other, and I think if we’d been a perfect match, we never would have gotten to this place together – knowing that _this_ is worth fighting for even when everything is working against us.” 

“You’re right,” she agreed, overwhelmed by his words, taking his hands in hers. “I wouldn’t take any of it back either…. But I won’t lie and say I feel don’t a little vindicated knowing that you were chosen for me. No one else made sense to me.”

“I don’t think I had much of a choice when you walked into my life,” Sergio smiled down at her beautiful brown eyes. “I thought this was going to be the worst experience of my life, but then the most beautiful woman in the room quoted Sun Tzu to me...”

Raquel laughed softly, “Stop,” she blushed. 

“Never in a million years did I think I’d get this lucky,” Sergio confessed, tears in his eyes. “I didn’t think I was meant to have a partner in life, but being with you here… you’re everything I never realized I needed...or wanted. Thank you for never leaving my side…”

“Never,” she promised, “I thought I was content being on my own after my disaster of a marriage,” she confessed, “But my daughter told me that this was the first time she could remember seeing me smile in a long time. _You_ put that smile on my face…”

The two stared into each other’s eyes, the weight of their words staggering. The silence was comfortable and needed. They seemed to understand each other on a level they never expected they’d find in their lives and even though only a couple of months had passed, they had created the building blocks to start a future together. It may not be perfect, but that wasn’t their goal. All that mattered was they found their match. In love. In life.

After a few minutes of savouring each other in silence, she saw a mischievous look cross his eyes, “Don’t you dare,” she warned. Sergio, however, only laughed and pushed her into the water, his body flying after hers as they became immersed in the sea together. 

Before she could protest, she laughed over how ridiculous he looked with his hair flattened by the water. Her hands moved to hold his his face tenderly as she giggled, the serious expression never leaving his face as he did. The weight of the love he felt for her overwhelming him for a split second.

When her body moved closer to his in the water, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, opening his mouth and finding her tongue, tasting the salt of the ocean between them as they got lost in the bliss of being together in paradise.

“To the future,” he whispered into her mouth.

“To _our_ future,” she grinned and kissed him again, “my _original and chosen_ match… because fuck this game."

Sergio laughed, resting his forehead on her. “Fuck this game,” he repeated and kissed her again, the two getting lost in the sea, kissing, laughing, swimming and holding on to each other when larger waves passed by them, the stress of the game evaporated from their minds, allowing them to enjoy each other as Raquel and Sergio for the first time and not as two game show contestants attempting to win a superficial game with cameras shoved in their faces 24/7. 

It was freeing.

 _This_ was their beginning. Reality would challenge them. Jobs, families, the pain of life, but they knew they had found their person to navigate it with. And even when there were days filled with darkness, their love would always provide them with a sliver of light, a splash of colour, to find solace in each other. And that was more powerful than being called a “perfect match”. Their love was bigger than a TV show.

And the world would be lucky enough to see it all unfold in front of their eyes. 

_“Great love isn’t two people finding the perfect match in one another. Great love is two people making the choice to be a match.” - Lysa TerKeurst._

  
**_[cheesy voiceover] *_ ** _wiping a tear* it’s over; it’s really over._


End file.
